BCCI is set to take the Indian Premier League to a different level next year.
While the lucrative competition is likely to have 10 teams from the 2022 edition, a report published in Cricbuzz suggests that the BCCI and IPL officials deliberated on the way forward for the league during a recent meeting in Delhi.
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According to the report, the Indian board has assigned legal work for the tender document for the sale of two new teams and it is understood to be near completion.
Moreover, a debate is underway if there should be a retention policy for the existing eight franchises while there has also been a line of thought that it will be unfair on the two new teams if they are denied access to the marquee T20 players.
At the meeting in Delhi, however, BCCI has most likely decided to allow teams to retain players.
As far as the number of retentions is concerned – the existing eight franchises will be reportedly allowed to retain up to three players. In the past, the BCCI had allowed more retentions and was also handing the Right To Match (RTM) cards through which the teams had the option to match the auction price of its players.
Meanwhile, the second phase of Indian Premier League 2021 is set to be held in UAE from September 19 to October 15.
A total of 31 matches will be played in the second leg of IPL 14, which got underway in April in India but was postponed on May 4 after the completion of 29 matches due to COVID-19 positive cases in bio-bubbles of multiple franchises.
(Inputs from Cricbuzz)