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The president of Board of Control for Cricket in Indian (BCCI) Sourav Ganguly has finally confirmed that India will entirely host the 2022 edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) unless Covid plays spoilsport.
However, with the addition of two new teams, the tournament is expected to be more rousing and thrilling which in turn will produce a great mega auction in February too.
The IPL had to be shifted to the UAE for most of the past two seasons owing to the pandemic. This season, with the third wave not as deadly, the BCCI has shown interest in hosting the tournament in just one state in India. Maharashtra, with its four IPL-standard venues in Mumbai and Pune, has emerged as the frontrunner.
Also, the league stage matches are expected to take place in Maharashtra (Mumbai and Pune). And the venues for playoffs are yet to be decided.
“It will be held in India this year, until and unless COVID-19 hits the roof. As far as venues are concerned, we are looking at hosting the matches in Maharashtra – Mumbai, and Pune. We will take a call on the venues for the knockout stages later,” Ganguly told Sportstar.
IPL 2022 will see 74 league games, with the season beginning in the last week of March and going on till May.
The Wankhede Stadium, Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune are likely to be the four venues to host the league stage. While not yet confirmed, the playoffs will likely move to Gujarat's Narendra Modi Stadium.
It has also been stated that they are planning to allow at least a 25 per cent capacity crowd in the stadiums provided that the COVID-19 situation stays the same.
Meanwhile, Ganguly also revealed that the Women's T20 Challenge - a three-team franchise tournament - will return this season after being ignored last year due to the pandemic. He said it will be held simultaneously with the IPL playoffs.
"(Will India Women play more Tests soon?) Yes, of course, they will. The Women’s T20 Challenge will again be back this year in the month of May. We will host the IPL and hopefully, in the future, we will be able to host a bigger women’s IPL once the number of women players goes up. We will take it from there. But this year, too, the Women’s T20 Challenge will happen during the IPL playoffs," the former India captain added.
