IPL prepares for fresh team auction

IPL 4 will have yet another new franchise within the next month, with this team likely to be from the north of the country. The IPL governing council that meets on Wednesday in Mumbai will formally discuss marketing contracts, but all informal discussion will centre on the next step to be taken due to the inability of the consortium that bought the Kochi franchise to resolve their ownership dispute. An IPL governing council member told ESPNcricinfo that any settlement within the Kochi franchise looks unlikely before the November 27 deadline set for them by the board, and said that, "a tender for a new franchise would once again be open the next day, by November 28.

"The moment the new tender is announced, we'll give within ten or fifteen days time for people to make their bids," he said. "The final announcement as to who wins the bid will be made after an open financial bid, so that there are no disputes later."

The earliest a player auction could then be held, he said, would be the first week of January, making it almost a two-month delay from the originally announced period of late November. The IPL governing council also seemed to be in agreement, he said over the location of the new franchise. "The next tender will be given to a group bidding for a city team from the north," he said. The termination of both the Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab meant that the geographical break-up of the IPL was unevenly distributed towards the west and the south of India. Of the eight teams, only Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils belong to "northern" India.

The auction is not the only variable in the IPL calendar. There are two cases in the Bombay High Court, filed by the expelled Rajasthan and Punjab franchises, that could plausibly derail the league's plans. Rajasthan and the BCCI have agreed to an arbitration proceeding to settle their dispute.

Ironically the new IPL Player Regulations list sent out to the franchises earlier this week, specified the new catchment areas of the eight franchises, and included the two new franchises, Team Pune and Team Kochi. Within a month, this list may have to be reworked again. Given the environment of uncertainty, IPL executives have been travelling around the country in the meantime, meeting up with the franchises and assuring them of plans already in place for the fourth season, regardless of all the uncertainty that has plagued the league in the last six months.

The uncertainty began with Kochi and the 'sweat equity' issue, which led to the resignation of an Indian cabinet minister linked with the new franchise, and was followed by the suspension of the IPL's 'commissioner-chairman' Lalit Modi for alleged financial improprieties. And it continued with the surprising termination of two established franchises, Rajasthan and Punjab, and the continuing inability of the Kochi consortium to get its house in order.