Kochi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi have been shortlisted and the venue will be finalised based on the availability of dates…reports Asian Lite News
Ahead of the IPL 2022, the BCCI is planning to hold a two-day mega auction in the second week of February, next year.
Kochi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Delhi have been shortlisted and the venue will be finalised based on the availability of dates, a Cricbuzz report said.
Notably, it could well be the last mega auction that the BCCI might conduct as the majority of participants, including the franchises, agree that the idea of having a big auction after every three years is no longer a great deal.
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the matter with CVC Sports, the firm which bought the Ahmedabad franchise, has been settled. However, a formal communication has not gone to them, which will authorise them to start negotiating with the players and pick support staff.
Both new franchises – Lucknow and Ahmedabad can sign up to three players but they also have the option of not signing anyone and go to the auction with an entire purse of Rs 90 crore.
The Sanjiv Goenka-owned RPSG Group, who bought Lucknow via bidding, on Wednesday appointed former India wicket keeper-batter Vijay Dahiya as the assistant coach.
Dahiya’s appointment is the third major announcement after Andy Flower was appointed as the head coach and Gautam Gambhir roped in as the mentor of the franchise ahead of IPL 2022.
On the other hand, the Ahmedabad franchise is still waiting for the official clearance from the BCCI and they are likely to rope in Ravi Shastri, Bharat Arun and R Sridhar in their support staff.
Meanwhile, Punjab Kings, who didn’t have a great outing last season, may not retain any of their players, ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auctions, a report said.
While most franchises are looking to retain their key players ahead of the mega auction, Punjab might look to make a fresh start again and head into the bidding war with a full purse balance of Rs 90 crore.
Notably, all the eight existing franchises have been asked to submit their retention list by November 30.
It was reported earlier that star batter and captain KL Rahul doesn’t want to remain with Punjab (PBKS), considering the franchise’s lack of success. The India T20I vice-captain is on top of the wishlist of the two new franchises — Ahmedabad and Lucknow, who have been given the right to sign players before the start of the IPL 2022 mega auction.
Now, as per a report in The Telegraph India, PBKS are looking at uncapped players like Ravi Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh as possible retentions but haven’t made their mind yet.
“Since the franchise would only need to shell out INR 4 crore if they retain an uncapped player, one of Arshdeep and Bishnoi could be persisted with,” the report said.
Despite changing and chopping their squads, captain and coaching staff almost every season, Punjab haven’t achieved much success in the history of the cash-rich league.