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The Indian Premier League will expand the number of franchisees to 10 franchisees with the addition of two new franchisees for the IPL 2011 season onwards. The IPL Management has already put application forms for the two new teams on sale. There are twelve cities in contention for the two new teams which include Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kanpur, Dharamsala, Indore, Cuttack, Gwalior, Visakapatnam, Rajkot, Pune, Vadodara and Kochi. The first eight cities already have cricket stadiums while stadiums are in construction in the last four cities. The base price for the bidding for the two new franchisees are $225 million which is more than four times the base price of $50 million when the original eight franchisees were auctioned in 2008. The number of games in IPL would also increase to 94 games from the year 2011 instead of the present set of 59 games.

As per reports, the IPL Management has also set tougher conditions for applying for the two new teams. One of the major conditions is that the bidder has to have at least $1 billion (Rs.4,580 crores) and if a group makes a bid, it must contain an individual or a single party with that amount of money. As per the IPL’s tender condition, the bidders should submit a Rs 460-crore bank guarantee to participate in the bidding process. The IPL has set a base price of US $ 225 million per franchise. Many are also speculating that Ahmedabad might be one of the strongest contenders for an IPL team. The Ahmedabad based billionaire Gautam Adani-owned Adani Group has also submitted its bid for a new franchisee.

Videocon Industries-led team called P Sports Vision is supposed to have placed bid for Pune franchisee. There are also reports that the guardians of the laws of cricket, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is also supposed to be running for the Pune franchisee. The other prominent bidders might include Sahara Group, Jaypee Group and ICICI Ventures. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel is also speculated to have placed bid for either Pune or Nagpur franchisee. Bollywood stars like Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Ajay Devgn had also showed interest though there is no confirmation if any film stars have bid for any team this time round. There have been 11 bids supposed to have been submitted till now for the two new teams.

The winning bids for the two new franchisees would be revealed on Sunday, March 7 at 1200 IST. Many are speculating that Pune and Ahmedabad might have good chances of hosting the two new teams though everything would be revealed only this Sunday.

The IPL season 3 would start on March 12, 2010 with a grand opening ceremony followed by a clash between the winners of last edition of IPL Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knightriders at Navi Mumbai. The final of this 2010 edition of the Indian Premier League would take place on 25th of April at Navi Mumbai’s D Y Patil Stadium. There will be 60 matches in total and several new venues have also been added in this year’s IPL. Here is the complete schedule of IPL season 3.

1st match Fri Mar 12 - Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders
Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai

2nd match Sat Mar 13 - Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

3rd match Sat Mar 13 - Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Daredevils
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

4th match Sun Mar 14- Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

5th match Sun Mar 14- Chennai Super Kings v Deccan Chargers
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

6th match Mon Mar 15 - Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

7th match Tue Mar 16- Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

8th match Tue Mar 16- Kolkata Knight Riders v Chennai Super Kings
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

9th match Wed Mar 17 - Delhi Daredevils v Mumbai Indians
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

10th match Thu Mar 18 - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Rajasthan Royals
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

11th match Fri Mar 19 - Delhi Daredevils v Chennai Super Kings
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

12th match Fri Mar 19 - Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab
Andhra Cricket Association-Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association Stadium, Visakhapatnam

13th match Sat Mar 20 - Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

14th match Sat Mar 20 - Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

15th match Sun Mar 21 - Deccan Chargers v Delhi Daredevils
Andhra Cricket Association-Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association Stadium, Visakhapatnam

16th match Sun Mar 21 - Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

17th match Mon Mar 22 - Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

18th match Tue Mar 23- Royal Challengers Bangalore v Chennai Super Kings
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

19th match Wed Mar 24 - Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

20th match Thu Mar 25- Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

21st match Fri Mar 26- Rajasthan Royals v Deccan Chargers
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

22nd match Sat Mar 27- Kings XI Punjab v Kolkata Knight Riders
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

23rd match Sat Mar 27- Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Daredevils
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

24th match Sun Mar 28- Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

25th match Sun Mar 28- Deccan Chargers v Mumbai Indians
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

26th match Mon Mar 29 - Delhi Daredevils v Kolkata Knight Riders
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

27th match Tue Mar 30 - Mumbai Indians v Kings XI Punjab
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

28th match Wed Mar 31- Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

29th match Wed Mar 31- Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

30th match Thu Apr 1 - Kolkata Knight Riders v Deccan Chargers
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

31st match Fri Apr 2 - Kings XI Punjab v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

32nd match Sat Apr 3 - Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

33rd match Sat Apr 3 - Mumbai Indians v Deccan Chargers
Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur

34th match Sun Apr 4 - Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

35th match Sun Apr 4 - Delhi Daredevils v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

36th match Mon Apr 5- Deccan Chargers v Rajasthan Royals
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

37th match Mon Apr 6- Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

38th match Mon Apr 7- Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad / Jaipur (venue not confirmed)

39th match Mon Apr 7-Kolkata Knight Riders v Delhi Daredevils
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

40th match Thu Apr 8- Royal Challengers Bangalore v Deccan Chargers
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

41st match Thu Apr 9 -Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

42nd match Thu Apr 10-Dccan Chargers v Chennai Super Kings
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

43rd match Sat Apr 10 - Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

44th match Sat Apr 11- Delhi Daredevils v Kings XI Punjab
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

45th match Sat Apr 11 - Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad / Jaipur (venue not confirmed)

46th match Sat Apr 12 - Deccan Chargers v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad

47th match Tue Apr 13 - Mumbai Indians v Delhi Daredevils
Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur

48th match Tue Apr 13 - Chennai Super Kings v Kolkata Knight Riders
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

49th match Wed Apr 14- Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers Bangalore
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad / Jaipur (venue not confirmed)

50th match Wed Apr 15- Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai

51st match Wed Apr 16- Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharmasala

52nd match Wed Apr 17- Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

53rd match -Wed Apr 17 Kolkata Knight Riders v Rajasthan Royals
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

54th match Wed Apr 18- Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings
Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharmasala

55th match Wed Apr 18- Delhi Daredevils v Deccan Chargers
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

56th match Wed Apr 19- Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Semi-Final Wed Apr 21- TBC v TBC
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Semi-Final Wed Apr 22- TBC v TBC
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

3rd Place Play-off Wed Apr 24- TBC v TBC
Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai

Final Wed Apr 21- TBC v TBC
Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai

NOTE: The match timings for all matches of IPL 3 would be 8:00 PM IST on days when there are only one match and 4:00 PM IST and 8:00 PM IST respectively on days when there are two matches in a day. The only exception would be the second match of IPL 3 on 13th match which would start at 3:00 PM IST as it was re-scheduled by an hour on a request by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) as the timings clashed with the Hockey World Cup Final.

All the tickets for the IPL T20 season 2 opener in Newlands, Cape Town has supposedly been sold out within two hours today. Most people were quite critical of how the South African people would react to the Indian Premier League after the venue had to be shifted to South Africa due to clash with general elections in India. But if the occupancy of the IPL opener is any hint for the rest of the tournament then it might turn out to be a huge success in SA too. The IPL opener on April 18 would include a grand opening ceremony and two matches back to back. In addition to that there will be the mix of Bollywood and Hollywood in the IPL season 2 opener. IPL has been aggressively promoted amongst the masses and most of the matches has also been organized on cities with huge Indian population. The ticket prices has also been kept quite affordable so that all the South African people can enjoy this extravaganza of cricket and entertainment without burning a hole in their pocket. And this hard work by BCCI and South African Cricket seems to have already shown the results. It was expected that ticket sales in SA might take a few weeks to catch up but the sell out of the tickets in the IPL opener has ended all the negative presumptions. And there has been booking of tickets not only from South Africa but from other countries like England, Middle East and South Africa. IPL commissioner Lalit Modi said that IPL T20 season 2 might help them in gaining a global fan base.

Although the full occupancy in the IPL opener cannot guarantee full occupancy for the rest of the matches but it is surely a definite trend that cannot be denied. Let us wish that the occupancy is full in most of the match and IPL T20 season 2 turns out to be a grand success. And whatever we say it seems Lalit Modi always has the laugh laugh.

Bollywood and Hollywood stars will attend the opening ceremony of the second season of IPL T20 if reports are to be believed. Hollywood actors Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman are likely to grace the opening ceremony on April 18 at Newlands alongside IPL franchise owners and Bollywood stars Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty. Last year’s runner-up Chennai Super Kings will play the opening match against Mumbai Indians while IPL season 1 winner Rajasthan Royals will take the challenge of Bangalore Royal Challengers in the second match subsequently on the same venue.

The match tickets for the opening for the opening matches will go on sale from April 3 and it has been kept modest and in terms with the 2007 ICC T20 Cricket World Cup. The tickets will start from Rand 50 for children, Rand 100 for a grass ticket and upto Rand 200 for a seat (1 South African Rand ~ 5.5 Indian National Rupees). According to Stadium Authorities, there is major interest amongst the public for the matches and so the ticket prices have been kept affordable.

To increase the maximum occupancy of stadiums the IPL schedule has been organized in such a way that the maximum amount of matches are played in Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg which are cities with the largest Indian population. Out of the 56 games to be played in IPL T20 season 2, 33 games has been staged in these three venues.

Let us wait for the next two weeks to see if the South African people likes the mix dose of cricket, Bollywood, Hollywood and cheerleaders. But going by the way the organizers are working on the event, it might become a success this year too.