The most awaited tournament of the year is back again on revamped track, coupled with renewed spirit and enthusiasm. With bit of twist and tweaks in residing teams, Indian Premier League is about to enthrall the cricket lovers in the coming months.
The IPL was basically launched to promote local talent. The 2016 season of IPL is going to be the ninth season of India’s cricket premier league. The tournament is scheduled to be played between April 8 and May 29, 2016. This season Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings will not feature in the league and have been replaced by two new teams -- Rising Pune Warriors and Gujarat Lions. Apart from the two new teams, the franchises featuring in IPL 2016 include Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the auction of IPL season 9 was held in which 94 players out of 351 got a contract. There were some surprises at the auction of IPL season 9 as some players got unexpected price which perplexed even them, whereas some big names of cricket world were unable to get any buyer.
Newzeland's Martin Guptill, Australia's George Bailey, South Africa's Hashim Amla, Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene, India's Munaf Patel and many more were unable to convince any buyer.
Meanwhile the uncapped players who weren't even part of the auction three years ago were preferred over big names. Experts say, “The younger lot these days are much more confident than the previous generation. They are not afraid to go up to senior cricketers or coaches and speak their mind.”
This season Shane Watson (base price Rs 2 crores) was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 9.5 crores, the costliest at the IPL Players’ auction this season. Meanwhile, uncapped Pawan Negi (base price Rs 30 lakhs) was bought by Delhi Daredevils for Rs 8.5 crores and with this became the costliest Indian player.
Meanwhile, after Vivo Electronics became its title sponsor, the league will officially be known as the Vivo Indian Premier League.
