BCCI CEO Rahul Johri confirms return of CSK, RR in IPL 2018

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) CEO Rahul Johri has recently confirmed that the suspended teams of Chennai Superkings and Rajasthan Royals will be making a comeback in the next edition of the Indian Premier League. The two teams are currently serving their two-year suspension imposed on them by the Indian cricket board. Both teams had failed to give financial clearances due to which they were handed two-year bans.

In their place, two new franchise were inducted in the tournament roster by the board. Rising Pune Supergiant (Pune Franchise) and the Gujarat Lions (Rajkot Franchise) were the two teams filling the void left by CSK and the RR. The players of the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Superkings had to go down under the auction hammer last year for the RPS and GL owners to pick their players from the available pool of players.

Now, as per the recent reports and quotes in Dainik Jagran, the BCCI CEO Rahul Johri has noted that the teams of Chennai Superkings and Rajasthan Royals will be back in the IPL 2018. He further added that the Rising Pune Supergiant and the Gujarat Lions will not be a part of the tournament from next year. He even remarked that more fan parks will be introduced next year to expand the popularity of the tournament.

“The ban on Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals will be lifted next year. Therefore, both teams will return in the next edition of the IPL. The BCCI is in no mood to increase the number of teams in the IPL. Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals will replace Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions in the next edition of the IPL. To increase the popularity of IPL in small towns and cities, fan parks will be created in such areas. Every match of the IPL is viewed by 20 lakhs people online,” quoted BCCI CEO Rahul Johri.

As far the player auctions is concerned, there are already speculations that fresh auctions will take place next year with all players going under the hammer. There might be no provision to retain the players for the franchise. Talking about the teams, Chennai Superkings and Rajasthan Royals have arguably been two of the most popular teams among the fans. CSK, in particular, has been the consistent team in the history of the IPL.