BCCI to organise IPL 2021 auction on February 18: Reports
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is all set to organize the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League in April-May this year. All the eight teams had submitted the final list of retained and released players to the Indian board on January 20. The BCCI is now planning to organise the mini-auction for IPL 2021 in the month of February, as per reports.
The Indian board was keen on hosting the mega-auction for IPL 2021 and add two new franchises to expand the tournament. However, in the Annual General Meeting (AGM) hosted on December 24, 2020, the office-bearers decided to postpone the idea of expanding the tournament to IPL 2022.
No 10-team IPL yet
Thus, the 9 or 10-team IPL will see light only in the 15th edition and the mega-auction will be hosted after IPL 2021. With the mini-auction, there was no pressure on team managements regarding the release of the players. However, they released the extra baggage from their respective squads to increase their purse limit and rope in new players for the upcoming edition.
It is learned that BCCI is planning to organise the much-awaited auction on February 18, 2021.
“The auction will be held on February 18. The venue is yet to be decided,” a BCCI official said as quoted by NDTV Sports.
BCCI is yet to finalise the venue of IPL 2021
The 2020 IPL was hosted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) across three venues namely Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah. The players and match officials were put in a biosecure bubble from September to November to ensure their safety during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
While BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has repeatedly said that the cricket board is keen on hosting IPL 2021 in India only, it depends on the situation in the country. However, BCCI will do everything possible to keep the glitzy event at its home.
