NEW DELHI — The Indian Premier League (IPL) Sunday took out newspaper advertisements inviting bids to set up a new team to play in the glitzy Twenty20 tournament that has transformed cricket in recent years. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which owns the event, is looking to replace the cash-strapped Deccan Chargers, which was thrown out for financial violations including failing to pay players. The advertisement, placed in the Times of India, said that the new team had to be based in one of 12 named cities, including Ahmedabed, Dharamshala, Hyderabad and Kochi. “The winning bidder will be granted the right to own and operate a new team which will compete in the IPL each year from and including 2013,” it said. The BCCI added the franchise would have to meet its eligibility criteria, and would have the right to qualify for the international Champions League Twenty20. Hyderabad-based Deccan Chargers were expelled from the IPL Saturday after its owners failed to meet a deadline to submit $19 million as guarantee money to the Bombay High Court. Deccan Chronicle Holdings, a media company that bought the team for $107 million before the inaugural IPL in 2008, announced last week it had agreed to sell the franchise to a Mumbai-based real estate firm. But the deal now appears uncertain, with the team's existence in doubt amid further legal wrangling. Sangakkara hopeful ICC cricketer of the year Kumar Sangakkara has backed the Indian cricket board to resolve the crisis surrounding the Chargers. Deccan captain Sangakkara told Reuters in Singapore Saturday that the team, which also boasts South African seamer Dale Steyn and Australian batsman Cameron White, was in the dark about its future but was hopeful of a solution. “Players have been paid and that's great. The franchise has ensured that they've always kept their word to the players and honored all the contracts they have signed,” said Sangakkara. “They are now in arbitration with BCCI, I believe, to try and come to an agreement and the BCCI has always been very good in problem solving during the IPL they've done a great job over five years. Deccan Chargers is a great franchise to play for, so we as players, we can't control those things, we just wait and see as to what will happen.” — Agencies
