The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has divided 10 IPL franchises into two groups for the 15th season of the tournament. The new edition will welcome two new franchises – Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT).
The groups have five teams each, with a team playing twice against the other four sides in its group, once against the four teams of the other group, and twice against the remaining fifth franchise. A similar format was used during the tournament in 2011, which had 10 franchises.
However, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt said that he doesn’t like the current format as he had never been a fan of the groups in the league. “I would like a single league format. Everyone plays everyone once. I have never been an admirer of a group thing,” said Butt on his official YouTube channel.
“There are more teams, so let’s see the performance of the tournament.” The new season will start on March 26 in Maharashtra. Mumbai will host 55 matches in three stadiums, while Pune will host 15 games. The venue for the playoffs will be decided later.
The 13th edition of the cash-rich league was played in the UAE, while the second leg of the next season was also taken to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah after the outbreak of COVID-19 in India.