MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India will likely add an additional team from Ahmedabad to the existing eight teams in the Indian Premier League, Times of India reports.
The Sardar Patel stadium in Motera, which is under construction, will have a capacity of around 110,000 once finished, most likely in March next year, making it India’s highest seating capacity stadium.
The initial plan to make the IPL a 10-team tournament from 2021 has been shelved for now, according to TOI. Instead, the board will settle for a nine-team tournament till 2022 before considering introducing a tenth team.
The IPL began as an eight-team tournament in 2008, before the board tried adding two new teams in 2011. By IPL 2014, however, the tournament was back to eight teams owing to multiple controversies. It has stayed an eight-team affair since then.
The newspaper also reports that the BCCI is seeking a base price of around Rs 20 billion when bidding for the Ahmedabad franchise opens.
“There will be takers, given the following for cricket in Ahmedabad and the resources available there,” the daily quoted a source as saying. “So, if a tender is brought out for one franchise right now, there’ll certainly be a great amount of interest and will set a future benchmark.”
A final call is expected to be taken during the BCCI AGM on December 1.
