CSK, RR would return to IPL in 2018 after serving two year suspension

Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals franchises will not be terminated from the Indian Premier League tournament. Instead the two teams will come back after their two-year suspension.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Sunday that it will invite bids to replace Indian Premier League (IPL) outfits Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) who will have to serve their full suspension term of two years.

File photo of  IPL team Chennai Super Kings.

The decision was taken by the BCCI’s working committee which met here on Sunday. CSK and RR were suspended by the Supreme Court (SC) following the interim report of the SC-appointed Justice Lodha committee on the match fixing scandal in the IPL.

“The Justice Lodha committee interim report will be implemented fully. The two franchise teams, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, remain suspended for two years. BCCI will float tenders and invite bids for two new teams to replace CSK and RR in the Indian Premier League for 2016 and 2017,” the BCCI said in a statement.

The working committee has decided that the annual general meeting of the BCCI will be held on November 9. The BCCI also announced that Vivo mobiles will replace soft drinks giant Pepsi as the title sponsors of the lucrative IPL.

“Revival of the National Cricket Academy as the centre of excellence is the top-most priority of the BCCI. The board will look at the lands offered by KIADB. MP Pandove (NCA chairman), Rajeev Shukla (IPL chief), Anirudh Chaudhry (BCCI treasurer) and Amitabh Choudhary (BCCI joint secretary) will inspect the lands offered by KIADB and finalise the deal within one month,” the statement added.