Two new teams and increased funding ensure the unstoppable growth of the IPL continues

Momentum is building over the 2022 and 15th Indian Premier League competition. Two new teams — Ahmedabad and Lucknow — have joined to expand the tournament to 10 teams, enlarging the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s coffers by a staggering $1.7 billion.

The BCCI has confirmed that the competition will start in the last week of March and stretch until the end of May. The number of matches to be played will increase from 60 to 74. A majority of franchise owners expressed a wish for the tournament to be held in India, despite concerns over the level of COVID-19 cases. Contingency plans are being discussed between them and the BCCI. One option may be to play behind closed doors in Mumbai and Pune, where grounds of sufficient quality are available and travel can be limited to roads. If the tournament cannot be held in India, the UAE and South Africa are rumored as alternatives.

A mega-auction of players is scheduled to occur in Bengaluru on Feb. 12 and 13. Ahead of this, the existing eight franchised teams were able to retain four players from their 2021 squad, based on a maximum of three Indian players, two overseas players and two uncapped Indians. Nov. 30, 2021 was the deadline to announce the retention list. Out of the possible total of 32 players, 27 names were announced, 15 capped Indians, four uncapped and eight overseas. The two new franchises had until Jan. 22 to pick three players from the pool of released players, two Indians and one overseas.

Players, with the approval of their respective boards, submit their name and price to the BCCI. Registration closed on Jan. 20 with 1,214 entries, comprising 270 capped players (61 of whom are Indian), 903 uncapped and 41 from associate countries. 

Australia had