IPL 2022 mega-auction to take place on THESE dates, confirms IPL chairman Brijesh Patel

IPL Governing Council also gave formal clearance to both new franchises - Ahmedabad and Lucknow.

File image (Source: Twitter)

Indian Premier League's (IPL) two new teams -- Sanjiv Goenka's RPSG Group for the Lucknow franchise and CVC Capital's Ahmedabad team on Tuesday received the formal clearance from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The formal clearance was given after a meeting of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council on Tuesday and both Ahmedabad and Lucknow have also been given a time frame for player signing before the mega auction takes place.

RPSG Group and private investment firm CVC had successfully bid for the Lucknow and Ahmedabad franchise, respectively, last October. However, the LOI got delayed after it emerged that CVC had links with betting companies outside India.

The BCCI, with the help of its legal team, took its time to probe the issue before deciding to approve the CVC bid.

"Yes, a formal clearance has been given to both Lucknow and Ahmedabad franchises. Both of them have been given two weeks' time to finalize their draft picks," IPL chairman Brijesh Patel told ANI.

A complete breakdown of the VIVO IPL 2022 Player Retention.

More details here - https://t.co/osE28OG4VS #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/TcTpKaznKd — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

The issuance of LOI means the two teams are formally part of the IPL, allowing them to pick players ahead of the mega-auction.

Both the franchises have already recruited the support staff and they can now go ahead and sign up to three players each from the draft pick ahead of the mega auction. K L Rahul is expected to lead Lucknow and Hardik Pandya Ahmedabad.

The IPL chief said the GC plans to give them 10-14 days to pick the players before the auction.

''We have been talking to the new teams, we are planning to give them 10 days to two weeks,'' said Patel.

Patel also confirmed that the IPL auction would be held in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.

"Yes, the auction will be held in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13," Patel asserted.

Earlier on Tuesday, IPL chairman Brijesh Patel confirmed that TATA will replace VIVO as the main sponsor for the upcoming edition of the tournament.

"Yes, TATA will replace Vivo as the title sponsor," Patel confirmed.

Vivo still has two years left in its sponsorship deal with the league and as a result, during this period, Tata will remain the main sponsor