BCCI invites bid for new IPL team
The Indian cricket board invited bids for a new team in the Indian Premier League(IPL) on Sunday to replace the terminated Deccan Chargers franchise in the lucrative Twenty20 tournament.
Deccan Chargers were thrown out of IPL last month for non-payment of fees and other issues but Deccan Chronicle Holdings, who paid $107 million for the franchise in 2008, challenged the decision in Bombay High Court to get temporary relief before the termination was confirmed on Saturday.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) did not waste time and, in an advertisement in some of Sunday's newspapers, invited bids for a replacement.
"Under this invitation to tender, the winning bidder will be granted the right to own and operate a new team which will compete in the IPL in each year from and including 2013 onwards," BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale said in the advertisement.
The advert says the team can choose from 12 Indian cities as their new home including Hyderabad, where the 2009 IPL champions Deccan Chargers were based.
Sri Lankan stumper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara captained the team in the 2012 edition of the IPL, leading a side which also included South Africa paceman Dale Steyn.
Last year, the BCCI terminated the contract of the Kochi franchise for defaulting on payments while DLF, India's largest real estate firm, terminated the title sponsorship of the league in August ending a five-year association.
