Reports: Guwahati unlikely to get a new IPL team soon

The 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will happen in four months. Some reports have claimed that the tournament could be a ten-team affair. Eight franchises played IPL 2020. Two new teams could join the league before the next season. 

The BCCI will take the final decision at the AGM, which will happen on December 24, 2020 in Ahmedabad. Many IPL fans would know that Ahmedabad is the number one contender to get a new IPL team soon. The other cities in contention for a franchise are Lucknow, Pune, Kanpur, and Guwahati. 

All the four cities have their own stadiums. Pune has been home to the Pune Warriors and the Rising Pune Supergiant. Even the Chennai Super Kings played their home games in Pune during the 2018 season. 

Lucknow and Kanpur are the possible bases for the Uttar Pradesh franchise. Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium has hosted India’s matches. Meanwhile, Kanpur played host to some home games of the Gujarat Lions. 

Assam’s new Assam Cricket Association Stadium has a seating capacity of 40,000. The Rajasthan Royals had announced that they would play their two home fixtures of IPL 2020 at the Barsapara Stadium. 

However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the same could not happen. All teams played their matches in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah only. Assam Cricket Association Secretary Devajit Lon Saikia reportedly wanted to propose a team from Guwahati in the upcoming AGM. However, when InsideSport reached out to a senior BCCI official, he ruled out the possibility of a team from Guwahati for the next season. 

Here’s what the BCCI official tolda InsideSport:

“Inclusion of Guwahati in the list of potential cities at this stage is unlikely."

​Thus, the fans in the Northeast will have to wait for a longer time to have their own IPL team.