With the third wave of Kovid declining and schools, colleges and other educational institutions reopening, the BCCI is confident that this year’s IPL will be held in India unless there are other unforeseen circumstances.
The Indian Premier League 2022 is set to take place in India. A senior BCCI official said the cricket board had taken a decision in this regard.
Asked if the IPL will be overseas once more this year, he said, “It will be in India.” An official of the BCCI told the Indian Express.
With the third wave of Kovid declining and schools, colleges and other educational institutions reopening, the BCCI is confident that this year’s IPL will be held in India unless there are other unforeseen circumstances.
The tournament has been held in the UAE for the past two years. India had played 29 matches in the 2021 IPL before it had to be postponed due to Kovid and was later shifted to the UAE. However, the BCCI thinks the situation is different this time from last year. The omicron variant of the virus is declining, and more and more people are adopting both. The government has also started vaccinating children between the ages of 15 and 18 from January.
In December last year, the BCCI had set South Africa as a backup option, and when the third wave of Kovid reached its peak, it was thought that the IPL would have to be shifted from India once more. But then things changed.
About two weeks ago, at a meeting of the IPL Governing Council with franchise owners, it was decided that this year’s IPL would be held in India, but the owners agreed that it should be held exclusively in Maharashtra to avoid air travel.
There are four venues in Maharashtra, three in Mumbai and one in Pune. For two years, the IPL was played successfully in three venues in the UAE. The franchise owners had said that if the venue was decided before the auction, it would help them plan their strategies accordingly. The full auction will be held on February 12 and 13 in Bangalore.
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With the addition of the franchises Lucknow and Ahmedabad, the IPL has two new teams this year, with a total of 74 matches in the tournament. However, the BCCI has not yet decided whether to select Maharashtra as the sole venue or return to the normal level where teams play at their respective home grounds. In this case, the running cost to the state associations. One match will fetch Rs 1 crore. It will be shared 50-50 between the franchise and the board. This is also under consideration as all the state associations / members are the largest shareholders of the BCCI.
Spectators are also coming for international competitions. The West Bengal government yesterday allowed 75 per cent spectators at the Eden Gardens for the upcoming three T20s between India and the West Indies.
