IPL: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) CEO Rahul Johri has confirmed that banned IPL franchises Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royal will return next year. Both, CSK and RR were suspended for 2 years by IPL governing committee after they found some element of corruption in their ranks.
After CSK and RR were banned, two new franchises were introduced by IPL governing committee- Rising Pune Supergiant and The Gujarat Lions. But, now that CSK and RR have served their ban, they will replace Pune and Gujarat in IPL 2018 as BCCI have no plan of increasing the number of teams in the IPL.
In an interview to Dainik Jagran, Rahul Johri made it clear that there will be on 8 teams in the tournament and Pune and Gujarat will have to make way for CSK and RR in the eleventh edition of Indian Premier League.
“The ban on Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals will be lifted next year. Therefore, both teams will return in the next edition of the IPL. The BCCI is in no mood to increase the number of teams in the IPL. Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals will replace Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions in the next edition of the IPL. To increase the popularity of IPL in small towns and cities, fan parks will be created in such areas. Every match of the IPL is viewed by 20 lakhs people online,” BCCI CEO Rahul Johri said.
This statement will surely disappoint many Pune and Gujarat fans. Both the teams have gathered a good fan base in these 2 years. It will also be interesting to see how the franchise owners react in this case.
More to follow…
