CSK Withdraws from The Hundred Race; MI, LSG, SRH, DC in Contention

Chennai Super Kings have officially withdrawn from the race to acquire a franchise in The Hundred, leaving four IPL franchises – Mumbai Indians, Lucknow SuperGiants, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Delhi Capitals – still in contention.

The franchise CEO, Kasi Viswanathan, confirmed the decision to Cricbuzz, stating that they are no longer pursuing a bid to own a side in the league.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is expected to invite financial bids for each franchise in the 100-ball tournament later this week. The process will map out the possibility of interested parties failing to bag a team, allowing them to still participate in the race to own one of the remaining teams.

The eight teams up for sale are Birmingham Phoenix, London Spirit, Manchester Originals, Northern Superchargers, Oval Invincibles, Southern Brave, Trent Rockets, and Welsh Fire.

The favourites to bag the London teams – London Spirit (MCC) and Oval Invincibles (Surrey) – and the one in Manchester (Manchester Originals) are Reliance Group, the owners of the Mumbai Indians, Sanjiv Goenka of Lucknow SuperGiants, and a group of Tech entrepreneurs.

The Sun Group, the owners of SunRisers Hyderabad, are in the race to bag one of the Trent Rockets (Nottinghamshire country) and Northern Superchargers. Birmingham City, once an English Premier League side, is believed to be interested in owning the Birmingham Phoenix.

The final round of negotiations and bidding will start in the next few days, with the process expected to be complete in February, by when the announcement of the new owners may be made.