In a major development, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may allow the two new IPL teams to sign a few players outside of the mega auction, Cricbuzz reported on Thursday (October 14).

As per the report, the move is aimed at ensuring a balance between the new teams and the existing franchises, which will have an option to retain a few players.

The BCCI sources have informed that the two teams will be allowed to pick a few players from the lot of those who will have registered themselves for the auction.

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It is understood that the two franchises will rope in some big names and the fee structure will be decided by the franchise and the player mutually.

According to Cricbuzz, the number of ‘special picks’ could range from two to three players but the final figure will be based on the number of retentions the eight existing franchises will be allowed.

As of now, it is believed that the teams could be allowed up to four retentions with the combination of three Indians and one foreigner or a maximum of three Indians and a maximum of two foreigners. In the case of four retentions, the Right to Match (RTM) card might be scrapped but nothing has been finalised and the eight franchises will be informed about the policy later.

Meanwhile, the BCCI has extended the sale of Invitation to Tender (ITT) for two new teams by 10 more days.

“Pursuant to requests from various interested parties, BCCI has now decided to further extend the date for purchasing the ITT document till October 20, 2021," the Indian board said in a statement on October 13.

The extension was reportedly needed after the interested parties questioned BCCI about its method to determine the net worth of an individual.

As far as the financial requirements are concerned, the Indian board has mentioned that each bidder should have a net worth of Rs 2500 crores and the company needs to have a turnover of Rs 3000 crores.

(With Cricbuzz inputs)