BCCI gives no clarification about the future of Rajkot and Pune franchise

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sees no future for Rajkot Lions and Rising Pune Supergiants in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but has kept the expansion plan for the league open-ended. These were some of the clarifications the BCCI has provided to the prospective media-rights bidders of the league, the process of which was started recently.

In the first set of answers – to about 259 questions that were released yesterday the BCCI has said that the suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals will be back for the 2018 editions of the IPL and it will only be an eight-team competition from there on. “There will be eight teams and 60 matches from 2018,” the BCCI has said.

“They have told us that they will ensure eight teams and 60 matches every year,” one of the bidders told Mirror. All original eight teams – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mohali besides Chennai and Jaipur – will be part of the league from 2018, the BCCI has said.

To a specific question over the return of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, the board has said that the teams would be back if they fulfil all the obligations.

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Somewhere in the 78-page reply, the BCCI has mentioned that it intends to expand the league to 10 teams but not in the immediate future. “Should there be expansion the league will not have more than 10 teams and 76 matches at any stage,” the BCCI has said. But a timeframe for expansion has not been given.

The Rajkot team and the Pune teams came into the league as stopgap replacements for CSK and RR and the two teams were thought to be interested in continuing the association with the league.

“We knew it was going to be for two years initially but let’s see how things turn out. Let’s first see what happens to the BCCI on Monday (in the Supreme Court). Then we will decide our future course of action,” an official of one of the two teams said.

The decision on the media rights should be made on October 25 provided things went according to the plan. Fifteen parties have taken the Invitation To Tender Documents (ITT). But there is no guarantee that all of them will bid.