Indian Cricket Board shortlist a foreign nation to host the auction for the first time in the league's history

Roger Binny (Source: Twitter)

According to reports, the player auction of the 16th edition of the Indian T20 League is set to take place on December 16.  However, the venue hasn’t been finalized yet but it has been understood that Istanbul and Bengaluru are two venues shortlisted for the 2023 Auction.

The 2022 Auction was held in Bengaluru in February 2022, but the Indian Cricket Board is thinking to move the Indian T20 League 2023 auction out of India. However, there is no confirmation on the news as it has always happened in India since the tournament’s inception.

According to a report released by Cricbuzz, the new Indian Cricket Board administration led by Roger Binny and Indian T20 League Chairman Arun Dhumal, the Indian T20 League Council has put forward the idea of hosting the mini-auction in Istanbul (Turkey). The final decision on the same is likely to come in the first week of November.

The 2023 edition, which will see the return of home and away format, is likely to begin in the third week of March. According to a report by Cricbuzz, the tournament will start in March and end in May or early June. The franchises have also seen an increase in their respective purse to INR 95 Crore, which is INR 5 Crore more than last year.

The home-away format was last used in the tournament in 2019, after which changes had to be made due to the pandemic. Even though the Indian T20 League 2022 was entirely held in India, the season was split between four venues due to concerns about the possible spread of Covid.

The fomer Indian Cricket Board President, Sourav Ganguly, had earlier asserted that the home-away format will be reinstated for the following edition.

“The next season of men’s Indian T20 League will also go back to the home and away format with all the 10 teams playing their home matches at their designated venues,” Ganguly had written in an email to all state associations,

The Women’s Indian T20 League will officially launch in 2023, according to Ganguly in his email, with the board “expecting to start the first season early next year”. The Women’s T20 Challenge has served as a mini-exhibition during the closing stages of the men’s tournament for the past four years, but starting in 2023, women’s cricket in the nation will enter a new era.

“Indian Cricket Board is currently working on the much-awaited women’s Indian T20 League. We are expecting to start the first season early next year. More details will follow in the due course,” Ganguly wrote.