No Gujarat Lions, Rising Pune Supergiant in IPL 2018

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Bengaluru, May 3: It is all but confirmed now that Gujarat Lions (GL) and Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) will not take part in IPL 2018.

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Gujarat owner Keshav Bansal, speaking to Cricbuzz, confirmed the news that IPL 2018 will be an 8-team affair with them and Pune franchise making way for Rajasthan Royal (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Bansal was quoted: "As we speak today, the contract states that the two new teams Pune and Gujarat will go out, so that's the fact of the matter.

"When we bought the team, it was very clear that we will be buying it only for two years and after two years, these two teams will go out and the other two will come back, so that's the way it is."

In 2015, the RM Lodha panel had taken the decision to suspend CSK and RR for their involvement in 2013 match-fixing scandal.

Both the franchises were banned for 2 years which created the urgency to form two news teams to fill the void. Through the reverse bidding process, New Rising Consortium group bought the Pune side for minus 16 crores and Intex bought the Rajkot side for minus 10 crores in December 2015.

The two sides were formed on a makeshift basis and the contract was, as soon as the two suspended sides come back, the Pune and the Rajkot franchises would go defunct.

GL had a great debut in IPL last season as they topped the table after the league stage. Unfortunately, they could not qualify for the finals, losing to RCB and SRH in the playoffs.

RPS, on the other hand, had a nightmare of a start as they finished second last winning just 5 matches.

This time the table have turned though, as the Lions are on the verge of getting knocked out. They are second last in the table with only 6 points from 10 matches. Pune are very well on course to make their maiden playoff appearance. They have 12 points from 10 matches.

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