10 teams are going to take part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 and the entire tournament is expected to be played in India. But considering the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had kept its backup plans ready and two countries- South Africa and United Arab Emirates (UAE), have been part of the backup plan as alternate venues. And now it is understood that Cricket South Africa (CSA) has expressed its desire to organise the 15th edition of IPL.
Venues in South Africa
As per Cricbuzz reports it is understood that the plan is to stage the matches in four centres in and around Johannesburg and there will be bio-bubbles as well. It is also understood according to the report that CSA has proposed that most of the matches can be held at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, Centurion Park, Willowmoore Park and Senwes Cricket Stadium.
It is worth mentioning that if the 15th edition of IPL gets played in South Africa then for the second time IPL will be played in the Rainbow Nation after it was successfully held there for the first time, back in 2009.
Auction dates
The mega auction of IPL is scheduled to take place on February 12 and February 13 and with the addition of two new teams (Lucknow and Ahmedabad), 10 teams will take part in the IPL acutions. The upcoming 15th edition of IPL is expected to start from the last week of March.
Lucknow franchise on January 24 (Monday) announced the name of the team as Lucknow Super Giants. Indian batter KL Rahul will be the leader of the side. Along with Rahul, Lucknow Super Giants had previously roped in Aussie all-rounder Marcus Stoinis and India’s Ravi Bishnoi.
Ahmedabad franchise on January 21 had named India all-rounder Hardik Pandya as their captain after they signed him for Rs 15 crores. The Ahmedabad team will have former South Africa batsman and World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten as their mentor.
Previously, the IPL’s player registration was closed on January 20 and 1,214 players signed up for the mega auction.
