Reports | Franchises concerned about IPL’s quality if two new teams are added

In the wake of reports that suggested that BCCI want to expand the Indian Premier League from an eight-team affair to a ten-team affair, it has left the existing franchises concerned about the quality of the league, as per TOI reports. Since the 2011 edition of IPL, where BCCI hosted a ten-team tournament, the IPL has been largely restricted to an eight-team affair, with Mumbai Indians the reigning champions. 

However, the existing franchises have expressed their concerns about IPL’s quality if two new franchises are added into the fold, given that they all build their teams from the same talent pool of 18-25 players. With that, the existing teams feel that the talent pool would become diluted, which would just make the tournament weaker. 

"Teams are already finding it difficult to ensure quality. If we look at most IPL squads, around seven to nine players form the core while two to three players per squad are rotated to find the right balance. Now, if eight franchises are increased to 10, that quality further gets diluted,” ask existing franchises, reported TOI. 

“IPL's core - the very essence of having a salary purse every year - is to ensure the overall quality of all eight franchises remains somewhere at the same level, regardless of an individual franchise's spending capacity. If two extra teams draw from the same pool of cricketers at the auction, can the quality be guaranteed," it added.

A BCCI official, however, suggested that the teams should be allowed to field five overseas players, instead of the four as per rules now, which would help to balance the quality out. 

"There are quality overseas players who are warming the bench every season because of the restriction. An added overseas player will balance out that need," the official is learnt to have suggested.