The future of Pune and Rajkot teams after CSK and RR return in IPL

Pune and Rajkot the two new franchises that have replaced the tainted Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, which stand suspended for the next two seasons of the IPL following their role in the 2013 IPL spot-fixing and corrupt developments.

The latest development for the Pune and Rajkot franchises came with the draft which took place today at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Bandra-Kurla Complex clubhouse. The teams got the opportunity to pick 5 top players each from among those released by the suspended franchises.

Both teams managed to rope some of the biggest names in IPL history who will form their core for the next two years. While Pune opted for the services of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Steven Smith and Faf du Plessis; Rajkot went for Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner and West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo.

With INR 29 crore already spent on the top 5 players, the new franchises are now left with INR 27 crore each to make purchases at the main auction to be held at Bengaluru on 6 February 2016.

Despite all these developments happening around the two new teams, the inevitable fact is that two years from now on, both suspended franchises CSK and RR will be back. The big question that is on everyone’s mind is how things will shape up then? Let’s look at the possibilities:

Pune & Rajkot may be scrapped

With the BCCI not giving any word on whether there is any future for the Pune and Rajkot franchises post the end of the two-year suspension period for Chennai and Rajasthan, the most obvious scenario that appears is scrapping of the two franchises. This would mean that the players who are due to be part of the new teams will be thrown into the auction pool once again after two years.

Even in the press conference which followed the 8th December team auction, BCCI president Shashank Manohar had said that the bidding had been done only for two years and the two new teams will not continue further.

10-team IPL

A 10-team IPL involving Pune and Rajkot alongside the returning CSK and RR franchises is perhaps the least likely scenario to occur in the 2018 season. When questioned about this, following the auction, president Manohar had pointed out that the board is yet to make a call on that.

However, a couple of days later BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur had revealed in an interaction with the media that they will be sticking to the 8-team structure for the IPL. The reason he stated behind this was that it would be difficult to fit 10 teams into the IPL window and would also lead to more afternoon games resulting negative impact on the quality of cricket and reduced popularity.

Despite all this, we would rather not rule out the chances as two years is a long enough time for opinions to deviate.

A new T20 league in the platter

Going by secretary Anurag Thakur’s recent comments in the media, the BCCI is likely to encourage the idea of forming a new T20 league in the lines of the IPL. According to him, they are considering this option looking at the number of people who are wanting to own IPL teams.

If this actually happens, there are high chances that the new Pune and Rajkot franchises may be shifted from the IPL to this new league. This would be ideal taking into account how much the respective owners have strived to get an entry into the world’s most popular T20 league and will also give them an opportunity to make up for all the losses both are due to suffer in the next two years.

At this stage, we can only maul on the various possibilities that are connected to the fate of IPL’s two new promising franchises on the return of the teams that they have replaced. However, the decision ultimately lies in the hands of the BCCI and one would have to keep a close watch on which way they turn by the time the 2018 edition of the IPL comes around.

For now, though, we will look forward to yet another season of the Indian Premier League which promises to be a cracker even without a couple of teams from the older lot.