The Indian cricket board will invite bids to replace suspended Indian Premier League IPL) outfits Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR), it was announced on Sunday.
The working committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which met here on Sunday, deciding on replacements for CSK and RR said the two teams will have to serve their full suspension term of two years.
The suspensions were handed down following the interim report of the Supreme Court-appointed Justice Lodha Committee on the spot fixing and betting scandal in the IPL 2013.
"The Justice Lodha Committee interim report will be implemented fully. The two franchise teams, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, remain suspended for two years. The BCCI will float tenders and invite bids for two new teams to replace CSK and RR in the Indian Premier League for 2016 and 2017," the BCCI said in a statement.
The working committee has decided that the annual general meeting of the BCCI will be held on November 9. The BCCI also announced that Vivo mobiles will replace soft drinks giant Pepsi as the title sponsors of the lucrative IPL.
The working committee also decided that the National Cricket Academy (NCA) will be revived on a priority basis with the BCCI already mulling an offer by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB).
"Revival of the National Cricket Academy as the centre of excellence is the top-most priority of the BCCI. The board will look at the lands offered by KIADB. M.P. Pandove (NCA chairman), Rajeev Shukla (IPL chief), Anirudh Chaudhry (BCCI treasurer) and Amitabh Choudhary (BCCI joint secretary) will inspect the lands offered by KIADB and finalise the deal within one month," the statement added.
Following the working committee meeting, IPL chairman Shukla said two new teams will replace suspended CSK and RR for the next two years, and post-2017 a decision will be taken whether to run IPL with eight teams or ten teams.
"It has been decided that two new teams will replace the two suspended teams Chennai and Rajasthan for two years. Bids for the two new teams will be invited for two years only. The decision regarding the teams will be passed in the upcoming annual general meeting and after the AGM tenders will be brought in for the two teams," Shukla told reporters here.
"The two new teams will be brought in for the next two years and after two years, a decision will be taken regarding the future of two new teams, when Chennai and Rajasthan will be back," he said.
Shukla stressed that the interest of CSK and RR players will be the primary objective, adding that he is confident that IPL will get bidders for the upcoming two seasons.
"I am confident that we will be successful in getting two new franchisee for the next two years. After two years, decision will be taken whether IPL will be eight-team affair or ten-team affair," he said.
"We will see to it if players are taken good care of. No player of the two franchise will suffer for this. Interest of the players will be protected. The selection of the cities will depend on the bidders who will bid for their teams and be the highest bidder," Shukla concluded.
