The bids for the two new Indian Premier League (IPL) teams were opened in Dubai earlier on Monday and sources close to the bidding process have informed NDTV that Rhiti Sports, a sports marketing and management company that represented former India captain MS Dhoni, has also entered the race to bag the rights for one of the two new franchises.
NDTV has further learnt that 10 of the 22 bidders are now in the race to buy the two new IPL teams, which will enter the league from the upcoming 2022 season, turning the IPL into a 10-team event.
The BCCI had earlier extended the last date for interested parties to pick up the bidding papers to October 20.
"Pursuant to requests from various interested parties, BCCI has now decided to further extend the date for purchasing the ITT document till October 20, 2021," a BCCI release had said.
The BCCI is expecting anything between Rs. 7000 crore to 10,000 crore from the team bidding of IPL, according to a report by news agency PTI.
The bidding papers, in the form of the 'Invitation to Tender' document, could be bought by any interested party for a cost of Rs. 10 lakh.
The BCCI had earlier shortlisted six cities -- Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Cuttack, Guwahati, Ranchi and Dharamshala -- as bases for the two new teams.
Expansion of the IPL is not a new experiment. Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala had joined the league in 2010 before both franchises were terminated.
During Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals' suspension from the league, Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions joined the league as temporary participants.