The BCCI has asked the two new IPL franchises – to be based out of Ahmedabad and Lucknow – to complete signing of three players by January 22. The deadline has been given after the process of formally approving the ownership of CVC Capital for the Ahmedabad franchise was completed.
“They have time till 5 pm on January 22 to complete their signings,” Cricbuzz quoted a BCCI official as saying on Wednesday.
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A maximum of three players can be signed of which only one can be an overseas.
As per the report, the two new teams were to be given a window of at least two weeks to complete their initial recruitment process. However, there was a delay in granting a formal approval for CBC Capital which jeopardised the entire IPL 2022 timeline including the auction next month.
The extra time that was taken for completing the process has been deemed enough for the two teams to have done their homework as to which players they want to sign initially.
With this, the BCCI will be able to conduct the mega auction on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru.
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Investment firm CVC Capital came under the scanner for its links to betting companies. However, later it emerged that the firm has invested through its Asian arm to buy the Ahmedabad franchise which has no association with the betting companies.
The RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, which owned the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant, won the bid for the Lucknow franchise.
The IPL will again become a ten-team affair from the upcoming season. However, there are concerns over whether the season will be held in India due to the rising covid cases.
However, BCCI is keen on conducting the league in the country. “We will try to ensure that the Indian Premier League happens and in India. But we will see into this matter again in March, that how is Covid situation then,” BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla told news agency ANI.
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