Munnabhai, master of Ahmedabad IPL team?

Harsh terms governing the acquisition of new IPL franchises have deterred several bidders, but Ahmedabad’s chances of joining IPL-4 are still strong, with a consortium comprising Ajay Devgan and Sanjay Dutt eyeing the city. The new franchises will be announced on Sunday.

Estimates suggest that the number of bids for a new IPL team will not be more than seven. “Considering the infrastructure at the Motera stadium, the new owner will definitely pay money for it,” said a top IPL official. “So there are bright chances of Ahmedabad getting a franchisee. It is very likely that the owner will include a corporate house.”

Ahmedabad had lost the bid to the Jaipur team before the inaugural. Jaipur, which was the least expensive then, was bought by Emerging Media for $67million. Later, Shilpa Shetty became a co-owner. Mukesh Ambani and Vijay Mallya paid more than $111 million for Mumbai Indians and Bangalore Royal Challengers, respectively, in the 2008 bidding.

As for IPL’s franchise-bidding terms, the first condition is that a bidder has to have at least $1 billion; and if a group makes a bid, it must contain an individual or a single party with that quantum of fund. The base price per franchise is $225 million.

According to the IPL official, the main purpose of imposing these conditions is to help IPL break even. “The conditions will ensure that we draw only genuine parties,” the official said.  Apart from Ahmedabad, there are 11 cities in the fray for IPL-4, including Nagpur, Pune, Indore and Dharmshala.