The ninth edition of the IPl season will also miss one of the super weights of the league in Chennai Super Kings along with the first-ever IPl winner Rajasthan Royals.
Both CSK and RR were suspended for two seasons for the involvement of some of their officials and co-owners in the 2013 IPl spot-fixing scandal, which was probed by the Supreme Court-appointed Justice (retd) R M lodha committee.
They will be replaced by Gujarat lions and Rising Pune Supergiants. lead by Dhoni, CSK are the only side to have reached atleast the semifinals of all seasons in the IPl so far. Twice winners and four times runners-up, Chennai were a formidable unit, with the bat and ball. On the other hand, Rajasthan were the inaugural winners of the competition.