The Indian Premier League (IPL) on 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, who were 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 that 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 on 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.
