For the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League to be held in 2011, two new teams are to join the flock. Kochi and Pune. While Pune was bought by Sahara Adventure Sports Group for $370 million, the Kochi franchise was snapped up by Rendezvous Sports World Limited for $333.3 million. “They made the highest bid for all three cities and were asked to chose one of those cities. So Pune will be the home ground of their team,” Modi told reporters. “There were five qualified bids and the bidding was extremely competitive.” He also indicated that the franchise fee was for 10 years.

Cine director Priyadarshan and superstar actor Mohanlal had planned on a cricket team from Kerala for the next IPL season, to be titled as ‘City Cricketers’. They had also roped in Shashi Tharoor, the new Union Minister of State for External Affairs, as the chairman of their team and had the full support of the KCA(Kerala Cricket Association). The Director of the City Cricketers is believed to be Robin Singh. But, recently news came out that the deal did not go through and the city will not feature in the IPL. However, here comes official announcement that Kochi and Pune are the new entrants into the IPL 4. The Sahara Adventure Sports Group had the highest bids for three cities – Ahmedabad, Pune and Nagpur – but they were told to settle for one, and it eventually opted for Pune. Going by the current format, inclusion of two new teams mean that from next year onwards, the IPL will now feature ten teams playing 94 games.

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