BCCI planning to add 9th team ahead of IPL 2021 auction: Reports

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), reportedly, is wasting no time in gearing up for the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The previous season ended on Tuesday, November 10 with Mumbai Indians (MI), captained by Rohit Sharma, lifting the title for the fifth time, beating the Delhi Capitals (DC) by five wickets at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Earlier, Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI president, stated that the upcoming edition of the T20 tournament will be taking place in April-May. Hence, it’s understandable that with not much time left, the world’s richest cricket board has already started planning for the next auction. The auction generally takes place in the month of December and January, but it could be delayed this time.

IPL 2021 could return to India

In the meantime, as per reports in The Hindu, the BCCI hierarchy has, informally, indicated the franchises that the auction would be scheduled early in 2021. It’s also learned that the T20 tournament could return to India after the previous edition had to be moved to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to the rise in the COVID-19 cases in India over the last few months.

In fact, if reports are to be believed, the reason behind the full auction is that “the BCCI has plans to add a ninth team” for the 2021 season. It’s learned to be a strategical move, keeping in mind the financial front in the pandemic situation. Prior to the 2020 edition, the BCCI was in all sorts of troubles with sponsors backing out, but it has managed to conduct the event without troubles.

Tuesday’s Final turned out to be a fairly one-sided affair with the Mumbai-based team chasing the target down with eight balls to spare. For the Capitals, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant got half-centuries, but could only lift their team up to 156 for seven in 20 overs.

No odd year? No problem!@mipaltan have broken the jinx…#MIvDC #IPL2020 #IPLon100MBhttps://t.co/WznunecEfX

— 100MB (@100MasterBlastr) November 11, 2020

In the run-chase. Rohit led from the front, scoring 68 runs off 51 balls with five fours and four sixes. Though he got out to Anrich Nortje in the 17th over, he had already put his team in the driver’s seat. Trent Boult became the Player of the Match for his three-wicket haul.