VIVO to be title sponsor for IPL 2021; fans most likely to return

Brijesh Patel, the chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday announced that VIVO will be the title sponsor for this year's edition.

"Vivo is back, this edition to be announced as VIVO IPL 2021, welcome back Vivo," said Brijesh on Star Sports during the welcome speech of the IPL auction.

The IPL chairman also confirmed that IPL 2021 will most likely see fans return to the stadium.

"Cannot wait to have fans back in attendance, most likely they will be in attendance for this year's IPL, we held one season behind closed doors," said Brijesh.

The IPL "mini-auction" this year is witnessing 291 players going under the hammer as England pacer Mark Wood withdrew from the auction at the end moment. All these cricketers have been shortlisted by the eight franchises. A total of 164 Indian players, 125 overseas players, and 3 players from associate nations are up for grabs in the mini-auction.

Rs 2 crore is the highest reserve price and two Indian players - Harbhajan Singh and Kedar Jadhav - and eight overseas players - Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Shakib Al Hasan, Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Liam Plunkett, Jason Roy, and Mark Wood chose to be slotted in the highest bracket.

However, right on the eve of the auction, England pacer Wood decided to withdraw his name in order to spend time with his family, reported ESPNcricinfo.

12 players are on the auction list with a base price of Rs 1.5 crore. Hanuma Vihari and Umesh Yadav are the two Indian players in the list of 11 cricketers with a base price of Rs 1 crore.