Ahmedabad franchise to play in the IPL? Here is BCCI's decision

The Indian T20 League is set to be a bigger cricketing carnival from the 2022 edition with the inclusion of two new teams. After a smooth bidding process in October 2021, Lucknow and Ahmedabad were the two sides which were formally introduced to the league. However, the Ahmedabad franchise, owned by the CVC Capital, came under the scanner after the emergence of reports revealing the company's links with betting companies. Though it threw some doubt over the team's participation in the lucrative league, the majority believed that the team would pass the screening.

And now, according to the latest reports, the Ahmedabad franchise has been officially given the green signal by the BCCI. It has also received the Letter of Intent from the board which was long due.

The franchise will be hoping to give the rest of the nine teams a solid run for their money and has roped in former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra as their head coach. Legendary South African batter Gary Kirsten, who led India to their 2011 World Cup triumph has been given the role of a mentor. Vikram Solanki has been appointed as the director of cricket.

The CVC Capital took possession of the Ahmedabad franchise with their winning bid of Rs 5625 crore. The RPSG Group won the Lucknow franchise with a bid of Rs 7090 crore.

"The new franchises will participate in IPL from 2022 season onwards subject to the bidders completing the post-bid formalities as specified in the ITT document. The IPL 2022 season will comprise ten teams and will have 74 matches, wherein each team will play 7 home and 7 away matches," the Indian cricket board had said after the conclusion of the auction in Dubai in October.

The 15th edition of the Indian T20 League is expected to begin in the month of April in Chennai.