Highlights:
- On February 03rd, the BCCI president confirms that IPL-2022 venue at India-Maharashtra.
- The IPL-2022 Group-league match of the tournament will be held in three venues of Maharashtra.
- The knock-out matches will be played in different place, likely Ahmedabad.
- Back-up Venue is Cricket South Africa (CSA) and UAE will be decided based on Covid-19 situation in India.
Indian Premier League (IPL)-2022:
The IPL-2022 is a fifteenth season and it is a professional T20 Cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. The fifteenth edition will see the expansion of the league, with the addition of two new franchises. In August 2021, the BCCI confirmed that two new franchises would join the IPL-2022 league. The new franchises names are Ahmedabad and Lucknow franchises. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is the defending champions of last season.
IPL Schedule and Venue-2022:
The IPL-2022 is scheduled to be played from April 02nd-2022 and end on June 03rd-2022. Since last two years, IPL had played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But, IPL-2022 is scheduled to be played in India – BCCI planning to conduct the IPL-2022 in Mumbai and Pune.
Mumbai to host IPL-2022:
The IPL-2022 will be played in India. In the meeting of BCCI officials on January 27th (Thursday), the IPL-2022 is all set to be hosted in Mumbai from March 27th. The reason behind this decision of BCCI is the continuously decreasing corona cases in the city. However, the final decision on this will be taken only on February 20, which is the deadline to announce the name of the venue.
But, on February 03rd (Thursday), In an Interview with Sportstar, the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly has confirmed that the group league stage of the tournament will be held across three venues of Maharashtra – Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune. The playoffs venue will be taken at a later stage, Ahmedabad could be the front-runner.
Ganguly said, “It will be held in India this year, until and unless COVID-19 hits the roof. We are looking at hosting the matches in Maharashtra – Mumbai and Pune. We will then take a call on the venue for the knockout stages”.
Stadiums list in Maharashtra – To host IPL-2022:
- The venues are none other than Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and M.C.A Stadium in Pune.
- While Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad is the front-runner to host the playoffs.
- The idea to host the matches at one centre was taken to eliminate air travel as it increases the risk to be exposed to the virus. The players can move in a bio-bubble from Mumbai to Pune and will not require air travel.
- The Bio-bubble is easy to maintain in and around these stadiums as top 5 star hotels are in vicinity.
Why Franchises are keen on IPL in India?
- Moving the IPL out of India involves huge cost and the franchises have borne the burnt in the last two editions.
- The price for hotel booking goes up and so does the travelling.
- While initially, the BCCI planned to host the IPL in four different cities, franchises opposed to the idea.
- With Mumbai having three international stadiums, it was a better idea to host the matches there.
- To spread out the matches, Pune was added in.
- Ahmedabad could host the IPL playoffs but it will depend on the Covid situation in India in April-May.
Back-up Venue:
BCCI has kept Cricket South Africa (CSA) and UAE as standby venues due to the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic. Cricket South Africa (CSA) has submitted an official proposal to host IPL-2022 in case of any Covid-19 pandemic or a last minute changes in India. The BCCI will keep the CSA proposal as ‘Safety option’ or Back-up venue.
