Indian Premier League franchises head to Rajkot and Pune

Pune and Rajkot will be home to new Indian Premier League franchises for the next two years, the country's cricket board (BCCI) announced on Tuesday.

Pune will join Mumbai Indians by becoming the second city in the state of Maharashtra to play host to an IPL side, while the state of Gujarat will finally get a team of its own in Rajkot.

The new teams will replace the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals franchises, which have been suspended for two years following their involvement in an illegal betting scandal.

The New Rising consortium led by Sanjiv Goenka, who is also a co-owner of Indian Super League side Atletico Kolkata, won the rights for the Pune side, while mobile manufacturers Intex will head up the Rajkot team.

"They won't be taking even a single penny from the BCCI but they will be contributing from their side to the BCCI," BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur told reporters after the announcement.

The IPL has an estimated brand value of $3.5 billion but has been dogged by allegations of corruption in recent years.

BCCI president Shahshank Manohar said the board was doing its best to tackle corruption in the league which kicks off again next April.

"People can have perceptions, it's our duty to change that perception," said Manohar, who also heads the International Cricket Council (ICC).

"I met the Maharashtra chief minister about 10 days back and requested him for a dedicated unit which would give its inputs to the board and the anti-corruption unit... and the chief minister readily agreed.

"We don't have police powers. Police can intercept telephone conversations between people, police can interrogate anybody which we can't. With the police power and government help, we will be able to deliver a clean game."