The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be preceded by a mega auction, scheduled to be held on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru. Multiple reports suggested the likelihood of the event being shifted out of India, most likely to the United Arab Emirates, owing to the emerging threat of Omicron, however, there is no confirmation in that regard as of now, with Bengaluru set to be the venue.

Meanwhile, a slew of cricketers will be going under the hammer as all the teams scratch their heads to make a new setup for the future. The upcoming edition is set to be a 10-team affair after two new franchises, Lucknow and Ahmedabad, have been added to the existing pool of eight. You will get all the Cricket news related to mega auction on CricTracker.

The RPSG group, a Kolkata-based multinational conglomerate company, claimed the Lucknow team for a whopping INR 7090 crore at a walk-in bidding event in Dubai, while the CVC Capital Partners, a private equity and investment advisory firm with approximately US$111 billion in secured commitments since inception, won the bid for the Ahmedabad franchise for INR 5625 crore.

Ahead of the mega-auction, the BCCI allowed each one of the existing eight franchises – Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals – to retain up to a maximum of four players in a combination of capped, uncapped, Indian and overseas players. 

Every team was allowed to retain not more than three Indians (capped or uncapped) and two overseas players, while a team was also not allowed to retain more than two uncapped players. Meanwhile, the two new franchises can pick two Indians (capped or uncapped), one overseas and one uncapped player each from the pool of non-retained players, the deadline of which was set for December 25 and has expired already. 

The CVC capitals have not yet been provided the Letter of Intent by the BCCI after their investments in betting firms outside India came to light. Although, they are expected to be given the go-ahead soon, following which both new teams would be allowed to make their picks from the players not retained by the existing eight teams. 

The 2022 edition will not be the first time when the IPL will feature 10 teams. The 2011 edition of the league also had those many teams, with 70 league matches played, followed by four playoffs. In that edition, 10 teams were divided into two groups, with each team playing 14 league encounters.

Each one of the 10 teams faced off the other four in their group in four home and as many away matches, and the remaining teams from the other group twice, either home and away. All the fixtures were decided by a random draw of lots. The system was scrapped later.

Remaining auction purse of all franchises ahead of the mega auction

Each team had an INR 90 crore purse before retentions. The existing teams were allowed to spend a maximum of up to INR 42 crore on retained players. Four retentions meant purse deduction of INR 42 crore, whereas the sums for three, two or one retentions are 33, 24 and 14.

Ahmedabad – INR 90 Crore

Lucknow – INR 90 Crore

Punjab Kings – INR 72 Crore

Chennai Super Kings – INR 48 Crore

Kolkata Knight Riders – INR 48 Crore

Mumbai Indians – INR 48 Crore

Delhi Capitals – INR 47.5 Crore

Sunrisers Hyderabad – INR 68 Crore

Rajasthan Royals – INR 62 Crore

Royal Challengers Bangalore – INR 57 Crore

When and where to watch IPL 2022 Mega Auction live?

TV- Star Sports

Live-streaming – Disney+ Hotstar VIP