How many teams will participate in IPL cricket 2021?

Right after the conclusion of Indian Premier League 2020, several speculations on IPL season 14 have surfaced online. One of the famous subjects is the number of teams that will participate in this year’s league. As the officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), haven’t finalized yet some details in the upcoming IPL cricket tournament this year, different rumors and cricket betting odds are spreading online.

One of these famous rumors is the two additional teams in this year’s league. Fans and bettors have been speculating that 10 teams will plain in IPL 2021 tournament.

However, after the 89th Annual General Meeting in Ahmedabad officials from BCCI have confirmed that IPL 2021 will continue to an eight-team affair.

An anonymous high ranking official said that: There are a lot of modalities that need to be discussed and most of the stakeholders feel that with IPL being held in April, there is very little time for a mega auction and to have a uniform retention policy, agreeable to all the existing franchises.

The official also quoted in one news website that the new teams will have not enough time to prepare in the tournament.

“You have to invite tenders and have a bidding process ready. In case you have two teams winning bids in late January or early February, they need to be given time for auction which can then be held only in March. That leaves a new team with very little time to plan,” BCCI official quoted.

BCCI ready to approve 2 new teams but for IPL 2022

Adding more teams to season 14 of IPL isn’t practical as the team will only have little time to prepare and set up their squad. Adding more teams in the tournament also means more games to prepare which may not be easy the current situation.

Furthermore, IPL 2020 cannot be delayed further as the country will also host another huge cricket tournament this year, the ICC Cricket T20 World Cup 2021.

If there’s any possibility of the addition of the team to the league, it should only happen for IPL2022. According to BCCI, they are ready to approve two new Teams for IPL 2022. These two new teams will not be part of the mini-auction that will be done for IPL 2020.

 IPL 2021 schedule and participants

This year’s IPL cricket tournament is scheduled tentatively between 11 April 2021 and 6 June 2021. There will be 60 matches that will be played this season.

The teams that participated in the 2019 IPL will be the same team that will play in the 2021 IPL cricket tournament. These teams will include: Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kings Xi Punjab, and Rajasthan Royals

The opening match will likely be played by Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capital at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Timetable and participants (tentative)

Below is the tentative time table for IPL 2021. Changes in the schedule may happen in the following weeks.