IPL 2022 New Teams: Just before the start of IPL 2021 Phase 2 in UAE, picture is getting clear for expanision next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2022). The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has zeroed in on the potential cities. With the traditional cricket hubs already playing hosts to franchises, the BCCI aims to take the IPL to two new cities in Hindi-speaking regions to keep a pan-India balance.
It has been reported that The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking to further explore the Hindi-speaking market through the introduction of the two new teams which will be added to the Indian Premier League (IPL) expansion for the IPL 2022 edition.
An office-bearer of the BCCI confirmed to Cricbuzz that the move is to correct the pan-India balance of the league. Keeping the current distribution of teams and business opportunities in mind, the BCCI has put up six cities- Guwahati, Ranchi, Cuttack (all East), Ahmedabad (West), Lucknow (Central Zone), and Dharamsala (North)- for sale.
The two cities in the race to be hotly bid for are Ahmedabad and Lucknow. Ahmedabad because the city now boasts of the country and the world’s biggest cricket infrastructure that includes a 1.10 lac-capacity stadium. The second city in contention is Lucknow – the capital of Uttar Pradesh, a state that goes into a very important election next year, has a world-class infrastructure in the form of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium (also called the Ekana Cricket Stadium) and is home to a region that accounts for more than 50% consumption of live cricket in the country on television – essentially the so-called ‘heartland’.
The primary reason why is BCCI interested in getting a franchise from the North apart from Delhi and Punjab is cricket’s popularity. As per data, Star Sports, the official broadcaster, 65% of the total viewership of the 4 Billion minutes comes from Hindi-speaking regions. Even in the ongoing India vs England Test series, 50.7% of viewership comes from the same region.
As for the Southern region, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chennai Super Kings and the Sunrisers Hyderabad are three franchises. One potential city could have been Kochi but with the pending litigation with the now-defunct Kochi Tuskers franchise, BCCI wants to look at North and Eastern zone.
