The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) held its 89th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Ahmedabad on Thursday (December 24). In the meeting, the apex Indian board has approved the addition of two new teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The cash-rich tournament will now expand into a 10-team event from the 2022 season. The IPL Governing Council has been asked to work out the details concerning the expansion of the number of teams. It also means that the upcoming 2021 edition shall take place with the regular eight teams.
Regarding the matter of cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the AGM members decided to seek further clarification from the ICC concerning the event’s details.
On the issue of tax exemption to the ICC, for hosting the 2021 World T20, the BCCI has made it clear that it will take some more time to take a final call.
But, in the meantime, BCCI will seek the permission of the Indian government. The Indian cricket board has time till December 31, 2020, to respond to the ICC.
Another important verdict the BCCI took during the AGM was to limit one franchise per state. Now, the new IPL franchise(s) would be located in a state where no existing franchise has a home base.
It means that Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and the union territories of Delhi and Chandigarh have been ruled out of the equation. This would pave the way for venues like Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Visakhapatnam, Kochi/Thiruvananthapuram and Lucknow as home venues for the new franchises.
The members in the meeting also agreed on the fact that the domestic cricketers should be compensated even if there are any loss of matches. However, final details on the compensation have to be worked out.
