While the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) all set to kick off from September 19 in the UAE, the biggest challenge ahead for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is to find a new title sponsor after the exit of Vivo. The franchises too are busy preparing for the tournament. While the COVID-19 has made matters worse for the economy, there are chances that fans might not get to see the mega IPL auction which was scheduled ahead of IPL 2021.
Not to forget, the BCCI will have to hold two IPL seasons after IPL 2020 was postponed for an indefinite period and has been rescheduled to September 19. While the tournament’s final will be played on November 10, the franchises were expected to build their squads from scratch for the 2021 season – an event that would have grabbed plenty of eyeballs.
However, as reported by The Times of India, the BCCI is planning to let go of the auction given there’s not much time left. In this scenario, all eight franchises would be expected to continue with their current squads.
“What’s the point in doing a mega auction now and not have enough time to plan it properly? IPL might as well go ahead and finish the 2021 edition of the tournament and then see how it wants to go about,” a source told TOI.
The franchises also agree with the idea of no IPL auction considering the gap between IPL 2020 and the start of IPL 2021 is around four and a half months. The franchises ideally need 3-4 months to get their strategies in place for a mega auction.
