Auction scheduled for the day after India’s second Test against England
The 2021 IPL player auction will be held on February 18 in Chennai, the league announced with a tweet on Wednesday. The announcement comes after the IPL Governing Council assembly on January 6, where it used to be determined that the 2021 edition of the tournament would remain an eight-team event.
With the second one Test of the India-England series scheduled to end on February 17 – the first two Tests are in Chennai and the final two in Ahmedabad – February 18 presents the organisers with a daylong window to conduct the auctions. The eight franchises had announced their list of retained and released players by the deadline of January 20.
How the teams are placed for February’s auction ESPNcricinfo Ltd
It is, alternatively, not yet sure whether the tournament will be held in India. The three-member Governing Council, headed by Brijesh Patel, deliberated on the matter in that assembly at the start of the year, and kept their options open. With the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to surge in India, it is understood that the UAE, where the 2020 edition used to be held, remained as one of the vital options.
With the pandemic throwing up several challenges frequently, the IPL remains uncertain approximately if to conduct matches on a home-and-away basis, which would intent having at least eight venues. The other alternative, which used to be also discussed final year before moving the tournament to the UAE, used to be to organise the tournament at a limited number of venues, which would minimize go back and forth for teams.
More to follow…