IPL 2022 Mega Auctions: How will inclusion of two new teams affect process?

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced ahead of the second leg of Indian Premier League(IPL) 2021 in UAE that two new franchises will be joining the IPL starting from the 2022 season. On October 25, Monday, BCCI held the auction for the two new IPL teams who will be joining the team. The bidding process was held with ten bidders putting their bid forward to own the teams. With the two new teams owned by RP Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG) and CVC Capitals set to play in the biggest festival of cricket around the globe, it would be interesting to see how their inclusion in the IPL affects the IPL 2022 Mega Auctions.

The fact that the IPL 2022 players auction would be a mega auction was known to cricket enthusiasts ever since the announcement by BCCI in September. However, the bidding process for the mega auction is still unknown. During the previous mega auction, each time was allowed to keep up to five players in the team. The teams had the option to either retain three players and apply the right-to-match card for two players or had the option to retain two players and use the right-to-match card on three players.

The number of player retentions in the IPL 2022 Mega Auction will most probably be reduced

However, now with the addition of the two new teams, the mega auction will certainly have a new format. While the rules for player retention are yet to be announced, the IPL governing body would make sure that the two new teams have enough top players in the pool to build their teams around. Keeping the speculations aside, the no. of player retentions from each squad will be reduced most probably. If this happens, it would be interesting to see how some of the top IPL teams like Mumbai Indians(MI) and Chennai Super Kings(CSK) select their teams.

Another interesting thing to look out for is the fact that who will captain the new sides. The captains will have to be available in the player’s pool in order to get selected by the new teams. Whatever happens in the IPL 2022 mega auction, fans are sure to get entertained during the next six months leading up to the IPL 2022, which starts in March 2022.

Image: iplt20.com/BCCI