IPL 2016 to start from April 9

The ninth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will start from April 9 and the final will be played on May 29, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Tuesday (December 8).

The tournament will see two new teams, bought by Sanjeev Goenka's New Rising and Keshav Bansal's Intex Mobiles and will be based in Pune and Rajkot respectively. The two new teams will replace the banned Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.

The new franchises will pick five players each through a draft system that will be held on December 15. The remaining players from Chennai and Rajasthan will then be available in the auctions in Bangalore on February 6, where all teams will be allowed to bid.

Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, confirmed that the IPL will run for 50 days. "After the two teams have picked their five players each, the rest of them will go into the complete auction pool for combined auctions, that will be held on February 6," he said. "IPL 2016 will be held from April 9 to May 29."

The board also announced that a workshop will be held for the franchises in Srinagar on January 13 and 14.

Mumbai Indians won the last edition of the IPL, beating Chennai by 41 runs, at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata Knight Riders have won the tournament twice each while Rajasthan won the inaugural edition. The now-defunct Deccan Chargers won the second edition in South Africa in 2009.