Here Come Pune and Kochi

The two new teams for the IPL 2011 have been announced today. Pune and Kochi will compete in the Indian Premier League from next year against the already existing 8 franchises. After weeks of speculation and suspense surrounding the announcement, the Sahara Group and the Rendezvous Sports Group have successfully placed their bids for the two franchises beating the other 5 bidders. Kochi is a good bid and brings in a representation from the region of Kerela. They have a good stadium in the city and the sport has been gaining popularity in the region. Players like Raiphi Gomez (who was picked by Rajasthan Royals for Season 2) and Tinu Yohannan will get a chance to showcase their talent on a big stage. It will be interesting to see if S. Sreesanth will be made the icon player.
The bid that surprised me the most was the bid for Pune. The Sahara group was actually leading the bids for Ahmedabad and Nagpur along with Pune. As quoted in the press they chose Pune because of its proximity to Mumbai and the fact that it is a metropolis and a home to various corporate giants. This argument given by them is fine but I am not convinced. Firstly, I think one of the main factors for the success of any franchise is the players. When the IPL was first launched all the franchises were given certain catchment areas i.e. the regions from which they could pick the local players. Maharashtra was obviously in Mumbai’s catchment area and now it will be interesting to see from where this franchise will get its player. Agreed that there will be lots of transfers next season as the contracts expire but I don’t think many franchises will give up their major stars. Plus, the Maharashtra Ranji team hasn’t been doing very well as they have been affected by the retirement of many senior players and thus they have a very young pool to pick from. Secondly, the fan base. Most of the people in the Pune region would be supporting the Mumbai Indians. Now with this franchise coming up, will they be able to create a fan base. Will they be able to lure fans from Mumbai (who has Sachin Tendulkar, need we say more)? We will have to wait and watch.
Thus, we will have ten teams next season but how will they keep it under the 6 weeks period. Difficult but not impossible.