File picture of a match in the first edition of Odisha Premier League at Barabati stadium

Cuttack, Oct. 14: The second edition of Odisha Premier League, which had been called off this year following a string of controversies, will be held next year.

Officials of the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) have made this announcement. “We have decided to start OPL again from the first week of April next year,” said OCA secretary Ashirbad Behera.

The Odisha Premier League (OPL), which was introduced by the association in 2011, ran into trouble following allegations of black money having been invested in the tournament and lack of enthusiasm on the part of the franchise owners.

However, from next year, the OCA authorities have decided to conduct the Twenty20 extravaganza on their own, with major modifications in the format. OPL-II will feature eight teams — Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, North, East, West and South. There will, however, be no auction like last time, OCA president Ranjib Biswal said.

There will also be no bidding for players, who will be picked through a lottery system. A pool of 120 players has been created and each player will be placed under four grades — A, B, C and D (catchment area players).

“We have decided not to conduct bidding for the teams or players. However, any individual or firm interested to take part in OPL-II can sponsor a team as per their interests,” Behera said.

Grade A players will be entitled to Rs 30,000. Grade B players will get Rs 20,000, while players in Grade C and catchment areas will get Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000, respectively.

All the matches will be held only at two venues — Barabati Stadium in Cuttack and Veer Surendra Sai Stadium in Sambalpur.

The new rules will help avoid controversies, said an OCA official.

The maiden season of the cricket league last year featured 10 teams — Katak Barabati Tigers, Balasore Bagha, Bhubaneswar Jaguars, Co-operative Kings, Dhenkanal, Western Samurai, Rourkela, Angul Tuskers, JSP Sparks, Jagatsingpur, Kashvi Power Rangers, Keonjhar, Puri Emperors and Berhampur Bhanja Veers.

Of these, the last three teams had opted out of the OPL-II, which was earlier slated to be held in April 2012. This was despite OCA extending the dates for the remaining seven franchises to submit caution money towards renewal and for interested franchise owners to apply for the second edition of the association.

The main reason behind the poor response was apparently “harassment” caused because of vigilance and income tax raids on a number of franchise owners after OPL-I.

Vigilance sleuths had come up with evidence that three to four mine owners, against whom cases of illegal mining were pending, had invested black money in the event.