IPL gets bigger, richer

Two more franchises have been added to the world’s biggest and richest Twenty20 league after the new owners spent a combined total of more than US$1.6 billion to acquire their teams, the Board of Control for Cricket in India said. Business conglomerate Sanjiv Goenka’s RPSG group won the bid for Lucknow in the Indian Premier League with an offer in excess of US$932 million (NZ$1.3 billion) while the private equity firm, Irelia Company Pte Ltd (CVC Capital Partners), will own Ahmedabad after making a bid of more than $692 million (NZ$965.8 million). There were seven other bidders for the two new franchises. The 2022 IPL season will comprise 10 teams taking part in two groups of five.