DPL T20: Two teams have been added to the existing six for the second edition of the Delhi Premier League (DPL) T20, expected to begin either in July end or early August — with a genuine rain threat looming large over the competition, thanks to its unprofessional handlers. To add to the shoddiness, the nitty-gritty of the player auction, at which all top players, including Rishabh Pant and Ishant Sharma, will go under the hammer, is still being chalked out before it takes place on July 6 and 7 for men and women respectively.
In the teams’ auction held on June 28, a consortium comprising Savita Paints and Prabh Dayal Om Prakash Infrastructure Pvt Ltd bid Rs 10.6 crore to win the rights for the Outer Delhi franchise, while another consortium, comprising Bheema Tolling and Traffic Solutions Pvt Ltd and Crayons Advertising Ltd, won the rights for the New Delhi franchise for Rs 9.20 crore.
The two new franchisees fetched the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) Rs 19.8 crore. Last year, six teams — North Delhi Strikers, East Delhi Riders, Central Delhi Kings, West Delhi Lions, South Delhi Superstarz, and Purani Dilli 6 — were auctioned for a grand sum of Rs 49.65 crore.
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The term of the two winning franchisees shall be for “perpetuity”, though “the present agreement shall be valid for a period of five years, whereafter the same shall be extended from time to time on such terms and conditions as agreed between the parties,” said DDCA, clarifying some confusion that its ‘Notice Inviting Tender’ might have caused.
For bidding purposes, one of the conditions for wholly owned subsidiaries was to have a minimum annual turnover of Rs 100 crore as per their latest audited financial statements. And for a consortium, or a joint venture, the corresponding figure was Rs 150 crore, with each partner having not less than 26% control.
There will, however, be no increase in the women’s DPL T20, which was launched along with the men’s tournament last year. The same four teams — defending champions North Delhi Strikers, South Delhi Superstarz, East Delhi Riders, and Central Delhi Queens — will compete again this season. “The main reason for not increasing the number of teams is that there are not enough women players. Now, since a new women’s Delhi league for clubs has been launched this year, on the lines of the existing men’s DDCA League, more players are expected to emerge and that might enable addition of teams to the DPL next season,” said a source.
Much delayed auction
Only if the DDCA had acted in a professional manner, the teams’ and players’ auction would have taken place much earlier and franchisees would have got more time to prepare their teams and coaching staff. In Delhi cricket circles, everyone, including the DPL franchisees, is aware of the real reasons for the long delay in starting the process of the team and player auctions. “In many other state T20 leagues, we have seen that there are so many things that are done automatically even if the President is not available. Here, in the DDCA, if President Rohan Jaitley is not available, everything gets stalled,” a DPL franchisee told Patriot.
“There are lots of differences of opinion among the DDCA office-bearers. That is the problem with the DDCA. So, you need Rohan Jaitley to sort the issues out and move ahead. So, we will be going into the second DPL season while still coping with the problems. What to do? You can’t help it and have to live with it. Everything comes with different challenges,” he rued, sounding completely helpless.
By “differences of opinion”, the DPL franchisee was referring to how a motley group was formed to contest the DDCA elections last year. After a lot of hard bargaining, three groups rather reluctantly came together, with Jaitley as its presidential candidate, and eventually swept all 12 seats of the apex council. But the fissures within the group came to the fore even as voting was taking place. As reported by Patriot in December, DDCA Secretary Ashok Sharma alleged that “a senior leader of our group” tried to “sabotage” his chances in a quid pro quo with the rivals.
The franchisee pointed out that the delay happened as Jaitley had gone overseas on vacation and returned just in time for the teams’ auction on June 28. Although there are other DDCA office-bearers and a CEO — reportedly hired at a fat salary — who could have set the ball rolling, they couldn’t take decisions in Jaitley’s absence, alleged the franchisee.
Then, just a couple of hours before the teams’ auction was held, a meeting between the DDCA officials and franchisees took place. A source who was present at the auction said that at one stage Jaitley looked a bit irritated when one of the franchisees sought a few clarifications regarding the auction rules. “He asked a few questions and Jaitley said ‘we will get back to you’. He got a bit irritated,” he said.
Rain threat to DPL
Last year, the DPL T20 was played between August 17 and September 8 while the main domestic season started on September 5 with the Duleep Trophy, an overlap of four days. Several Delhi players — Rishabh Pant (Purani Dilli 6), Navdeep Saini (West Delhi Lions), Himanshu Chauhan (East Delhi Riders), and Harshit Rana (North Delhi Strikers) — who were picked in the four teams for the Duleep Trophy missed some DPL matches. Despite pacer Chauhan missing the final, East Delhi Riders beat South Delhi Superstarz to win the title.
This time the 2025–26 domestic season starts nine days earlier, on August 28, with the Duleep Trophy while the DDCA is yet to announce the dates of the DPL. In all probability, there could be a bigger overlap between the DPL and the Duleep Trophy as the number of DPL matches — as well as its duration — is likely to increase with the addition of the new teams.
The more the DPL stretches into August–September, the more chances there are of matches being affected by rains, as the monsoon has already hit Delhi. Last year, three matches, including a semi-final, were abandoned due to rain. This season, it could well be more. And a delay in finishing the DPL would also mean that some franchisees could be hit if their players are picked in the North Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy.
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DDCA loses race for dates
The finalisation of the dates for the various state T20 leagues is decided by the BCCI and the broadcasters, in conjunction with the concerned state cricket associations (SCAs). But it all boils down to making an early start, besides a few other factors, as the president of an SCA which organises a T20 league said.
“The dates depend on a particular SCA’s bargaining power. The bigger the SCA, the stronger its power to bargain. It also depends on the availability of the broadcaster, while the final approval comes from the BCCI,” the SCA President told Patriot.
It is no secret that in a few years, the DDCA has significantly lost its bargaining power in the BCCI. This became evident once again recently when the BCCI took away a Test match against South Africa, the winners of the World Test Championship and world No. 2, from Delhi after allotting it to the DDCA, and instead asked it to host a Test against No. 8 West Indies. There have been several instances that testify to this fact.
