The 14th edition of the IPL is already underway after the great success of the 13th edition of the IPL which ended recently with Mumbai Indians being crowned the champions for the 5th time in the History of IPL. BCCI plan to conduct the next edition of IPL in 4 months as the preparation has already begun.
Top 5 changes that could be seen in the edition of the IPL.
Revamped teams: BCCI is likely to conduct full auction the IPL 2021 and it will take place either at the end of December or first week of January. According to the information available with InsideSport, BCCI has informally discussed the matter with franchises as well. The final decision in this regard will be taken in the next 2-3 weeks. In such a scenario, all the franchises will be reshuffled and fans will get to see revamped teams in IPL 14.
Return of crowd: IPL 2020 in UAE had all the thrill, action, drama but what it missed was the presence of a crowd in the stadiums. With IPL 2021 set to take place in India, the fans will be allowed in the stadium with proper guidelines and that will not only generate more revenue but will boost the confidence of players as well.
Motera Stadium to host games: Recently, the Motera Stadium in Gujarat underwent a renovation which increased the capacity to 110,000, making it the largest stadium as per capacity. Good news is that the revamped stadium in Ahmedabad is set to host IPL matches next year. Also, IPL 2021 could feature a ninth team and that could be from Gujarat with Motera being their home ground.
Some players won’t be around: Some of the big names in IPL won’t be there in the next edition. For example, CSK stalwart Shane Watson recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, which means he won’t play in IPL 2021. Likewise, many aged players like Harbhajan Singh, Dale Steyn, Amit Mishra, Imran Tahir might not play in next IPL or may fail to find a team in the auction.
New Sponsor: Dream11 replaced Vivo as the title sponsor for the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) after the BCCI’s five-year deal signed with Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Vivo in 2018 was suspended this year due to the ongoing tensions between the two countries.
Due to the low bid amount from Dream11, it is predicted that it won’t stay on board for the next two seasons after their 3-year conditional deal. A new title sponsor will be sought by the BCCI.