Sahara wins Pune, Rendezvous gets Kochi

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Chennai: Sahara Group was the highest bidder at $370 million to bag Pune and Rendezvous Sports bid $333.33 million to get Kochi as the two new franchisees to make the Indian Premier League (IPL) a 10-team affair from the 2011 season.

Announcing the bid results here, IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi said the Sahara Group had the option of choosing from Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Pune as their home. The corporate from Lucknow picked Pune as it host city.

The consortium from Kerala, Rendezvous Group, decided on Kochi as its base.

The eight franchisees who have been part of the IPL in the last three years are: Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Deccan Chargers, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab.

Modi also ruled out any further expansion of the league in the long run.

Sahara group representative Abhijeet Sarkar said, "we chose Pune because we are part of BCCI for the past 15 years now and we are proud to be part of the IPL family."

Vivek Venugopal of Rendezvous Sports said: "We are the second highest bidder. We are open to suggestion. Ours is a consortium of number of investors but the names are confidential. I will let you know at the right time."

Fast bowler Sreesanth said he did not hope to be the captain of the Kochi team but would love to play for Kochi.

"God's grace, it's great news for me being a Malu. It is a great chance for people who have missed out on chances. Thanks to Shashi and Mohanlal and Preyadarshan. I would love to play for the team. I love Punjab team but playing for your own state team there is nothing like that. I am not hoping to be captain but I would love to play for the team," said the pacer from Kerala.

Cricket expert Harsha Bhogle said the choice of Pune made perfect business sense.