The T20 format has changed the complexion of the cricket big time. Now and then we see the birth of a new T20 league. Almost every cricketing nation has a T20 league of its own. While England and Australia first led the way in the shortest format, the Indian Premier League (IPL) was the first big franchise-based tournament. Thus, over the last 12 years, the IPL has become better, bigger, and stronger.
Though the 13th edition of the IPL is more than seven months away, the franchise owners have already begun trading players to come up with a formidable squad for the forthcoming tournament. The franchises will get the opportunity to strengthen their team in December further this year when the auction for the next season is likely to be held.
According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, it will be a mini-auction, which will see a three crore increment to the salary cap of the teams. Therefore, the franchises can now spend up to Rs 86 crore for their squad. While most of the clubs are more or less settled, the weaker teams see the auction as an opportunity to revamp their side with quality players.
Meanwhile, the franchises have been overhauling their support staff with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to be the latest to do so. They have appointed Mike Hesson as the team director while Simon Katich will take over as the head coach from Gary Kirsten for the IPL 2020. Bollywood actress Preity Zinta co-owned Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) is also looking for options in that aspect and will make an announcement soon.
