The BCCI’s January 25 auction to buy five women’s IPL franchises ahead of the inaugural edition in March will see seventeen bidders, including seven entities that have men’s IPL teams. The auction will take place on Wednesday afternoon in Mumbai and the winners will be determined through a closed bidding process.
One of the key eligibility criteria for the bids listed by the BCCI as part of the approving techno-bid process was for the bidders to have an audited net worth of at least Rs 1000 crore by March 31, 2022. ESPNcricinfo has learned that the group’s own IPL teams Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals have submitted technical bids on Monday’s deadline day.
The other three men’s IPL franchises – Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants – opted not to enter the bidding process even though they had purchased the tender document.
Other business entities that have been part of the financial bids include Adani Group, Capri Global, Haldiram Group, Torrent Pharma, Apollo Pipes, Amrit Leela Enterprises, Shriram Group and Slingshot 369 Ventures Pvt Ltd.
The BCCI has listed ten Indian cities and venues in the tender document, which allows a party to bid for more than one city. No base price has been set, and bids will be accepted for a ten-year period – 2023 to 2032. The ten cities and venues chosen are Ahmedabad (Narendra Modi Stadium, capacity 112,560), Kolkata (Eden Gardens, 65,000), Chennai (MA Chidambaram Stadium, 50,000), Bengaluru (M Chinnaswamy Stadium, 42,000), Delhi (Arun Jaitley Stadium, 55,000) , Dharamsala (HPCA Stadium, 20,900), Guwahati (Barsapara Stadium, 38,650), Indore (Holkar Stadium, 26,900), Lucknow (AB Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, 48,800) and Mumbai (Wankhede/DY Patil/Brabourne Stadium).
Auction purse of INR 12 Crore for each team building
An auction purse of Rs 12 crore will be available to each franchise to build their team for the first season.
The BCCI is yet to formally announce the date of the auction but it is expected to take place in the first week of February.
In the bid document, the BCCI has mentioned that the squad size should be between 15 to 18. A total of seven foreign players will be allowed in each team, including players from associate countries. As far as the playing XI is concerned, there is a cap of five overseas players, including a player from an Associate country.
