Mumbai to host ten IPL ties

Mumbai frachise winners Reliance India Ltd of Mukesh Ambani, will host ten matches, including the two semi finals and final, in the multi-million dollar Indian Premier League set to kick off at Bangalore on April 18.

Reliance Ltd. Has earned the right to host the final and the two semi finals by virtue of having bid the highest (USD 111.9) during the franchise auction which netted the Cricket Board USD 723.6 million, according to IPL sources.

"The bid by Vijay Mallya's UB Group of USD 111.6 m for the Bangalore franchise was the second-best and that's why he has been allotted the League opener on April 18," they said.

With each franchise team playing all other teams once on a home and away basis, the Mumbai franchise owners will be hosting seven ties in the preliminary stage of the tournament plus the three in the knock-out phase, making it ten in all.

IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi today said the Mumbai franchise owners have been given the option of hosting matches at the Cricket Club of India's Brabourne Stadium and the D Y Patil Stadium, in Navi Mumbai.

"I guess they will choose CCI," he said when asked which of the two venues would be preferred for the June 1 final and the two semi finals, slated for May 30 and 31.

The other seven franchise owners - Bangalore (United Breweries), Hyderabad (Deccan Chronicle Group), Chennai (India Cements), Delhi (GMR Group), Kolkata (Red Chillies Entertainment of Shah Rukh Khan and Group), Chandigarh (Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, R Burman and Group) and Jaipur (Emerging Media Group) would host seven matches each in the 44-day, 59-match League.