IPL 2021: Final two league fixtures to be played simultaneously, two new franchises to be announced on October 25

The last two league encounters of the Indian Premier League on October 8 will be played simultaneously. As per the original itinerary, the Sunrisers Hyderabad were scheduled to play against Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi in the afternoon (3:30 PM IST) encounter, followed by Royal Challengers Bangalore taking on Delhi Capitals in the evening (7:30 PM IST) in Dubai. As things stand now, both the games will commence at 7:30 PM IST.

The intention behind the step could be to bar any team from taking an unfair advantage, should the Playoff qualification situation bottle down to Net Run Rate (NRR).

The decision was confirmed during an IPL Governing Council meeting held on Tuesday (September 28). The other key decisions taken during the meet include the appointment of two new IPL franchises that will participate from the next edition onwards. The council confirmed the teams will be announced on October 25, after which the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is understood to release the tender for Media Rights for the 2023-27 cycle.

The 2022 edition will not be the first time when the IPL will feature 10 teams, as the 2011 edition witnessed the addition of Pune Warriors and Kochi Tuskers Kerala (both defunct now), with 70 league matches played, followed by four playoffs. During 2011, 10 teams were divided into two groups, with each team playing 14 league encounters.

Each one of the 10 teams faced off the other four in their group in four home and as many away matches, and the remaining teams from the other group twice, either home and away. All the fixtures were decided by a random draw of lots. The system was scrapped later, whereas IPL 2013 was the last when more than eight teams featured in the tournament. The 2013 edition was a nine-team affair, with a total of 76 matches being played.

The last BCCI conducted bidding for new IPL franchises was in 2015 when Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, who were suspended for two years from the IPL, were replaced by Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions.

The minimum bid price for the upcoming franchises, meanwhile, has been set as INR 2000 crore, with cities including Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Guwahati and Cuttack being in contention.