New Delhi: Bengaluru could have been the favoured city for holding IPL auctions but the trend looks set to be broken, as reports emerge of Mumbai hosting the auction for the 10th edition of the cash-rich league.
Speaking to CricketNext, a source revealed that BCCI is likely to bring back auction to Mumbai following logistical convinient.
“Earlier, the IMG team [event managers] in the last few years would head off to Bengaluru well in advance to start the back-end work. And then you had all the IPL governing council members heading to the city a few days prior to the auction. Having it in Mumbai also helps in keeping the cost under check.”
“Today (Friday) is the last day for the interested players to submit their names to the list and ideally the available names will then be sent to the eight teams by say Monday.
“After that, the franchises will take a few days to prepare their preferred list depending on the kind of players they are looking to rope in and re-send the list to the governing council. Once that is done, the final list of players in the auction will be prepared,” the IPL franchisee member said.
The official also spoke about BCCI’s current trumoil, saying IPL franchises very well understand what the cricketing body is going through.
“Yes, we were earlier told that the auction would take place in the first week of February, but then it had to be delayed for obvious reasons. But that is okay because we all realise that the BCCI has had other priorities and there is a legitimate reason behind the postponement. We are in touch with CEO Rahul Johri and everything is under control.
“Also, the auction isn’t a major thing this time as an overhaul is anyway expected next season. So, we aren’t too perturbed as one thing is clear that the new dispensation has also made it clear that cricket will not suffer under any circumstance,” he concluded.
Source: Zee News