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Pune and Rajkot based teams to replace Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for IPL 9 and 10

Two new franchisees, based out of Rajkot and Pune, on Tuesday won the bids to be part of the forthcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) — replacing suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals for two seasons. Intex group bagged the Rajkot-based IPL team, winning the reverse bidding for the franchise while Kolkata-based business tycoon Sanjiv Goenka’s RP-Sanjiv Goenka group won the bid for the Pune-based team. The RP-Sanjiv Goenka group also acts as co-owner for the Indian Super League (ISL) franchise Atletico de Kolkata, alongside former Indian cricket captain and member of IPL governing council Sourav Ganguly and La Liga club Atletico Madrid.

In a reverse bid, Intex group’s bid for Rs -10 crore clinched the Rajkot team and RP-Sanjiv Goenka group won the bid for the Pune-based team for Rs -16 crore. The base price for the reverse bid from the central revenue pool was Rs 40 crore, and the party that bid for the lowest share from the central revenue pool was to be the winner of the new team. “Sports is something we are getting more and more committed to and we have seen the potential of business in sports. We have already got into football, this is our foray into cricket,” Sanjeev Goenka said to Times Now after winning the bid. “For us Pune worked the best as it offered the best economic sense,” Goenka added. The two new teams won’t get a portion of revenues that established franchises get from the IPL’s central revenue pool. “They won’t take a single penny from the BCCI. In fact they will pay the BCCI,” the report quoted BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur told reporters after a meeting of the IPL Governing Council in New Delhi.

The bidding process for two was necessitated by the suspension of CSK and RR for the involvement some of their officials and co-owners in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal, which was probed by the Supreme Court-appointed Justice (retd) R M Lodha committee. In October, PepsiCo pulled out as IPL’s title-sponsor and was replaced by Chinese cellphone manufacturer Vivo. However, both the CSK and RR will be allowed back in the league after serving out their suspension. The interim franchises, which have been picked on Tuesday, will be participate in a draft to first retain their share of players. Players from CSK and RR will be divided into two groups of capped and uncapped and the top names will be sold through the draft system. The two new teams will have a minimum of Rs 40 crore and a maximum of Rs 66 crore to buy their players. The other three bidders in fray were Harsh Goenka of RPG properties, Axis Clinical and Chettinad Cement, all of whom quoted higher bids than New Rising.