The vice president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Rajeev Shukla gave an all-important update on the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League on Tuesday (January 11).
He said that BCCI will try to ensure that the IPL happens in India.
"We will try to ensure that the Indian Premier League happens and in India. But we will see into this matter again in March, that how is COVID situation then," Shukla said.
"There will be a contingency plan in place if the COVID situation worsens," he added. About the IPL Auction and India-West Indies series Shukla said it all depends on the situation then," he further added.
Adding to the development, two new teams - Sanjiv Goenka's Lucknow franchise and CVC Capital's Ahmedabad received the formal clearance from BCCI.
The formal clearance was given after a meeting of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council on Tuesday and both Ahmedabad and Lucknow have also been given a time frame for player signing before the mega auction takes place.
"There were two important decisions made by IPL governing body today. First, the Ahmedabad franchise whose bid was won by CVC was awarded. After being the highest bidder, there were questions raised that they have some shares in the betting company outside of India. BCCI then took all precautions immediately and they formed a committee whose head was a retired judge of Supreme Court and after looking at all the things the committee decided that their betting was correct and they should receive (the formal clearance)," Shukla said.
"However, BCCI again took additional precautions and asked them (CVC) to give an undertaking that you will not participate/be a partner in any (betting) company," he added.
Earlier, VIVO pulled out as the title sponsors of the IPL. The Chinese smartphone makers were replaced by the Tata Group as the new sponsors of the glitzy T20 league which will head into its 15th season this year.
The IPL Governing Council, where it was confirmed that Tata will be the new sponsor of the league going forward. IPL chairman Brijesh Patel confirmed Vivo's exit and Tata's onboarding as the new sponsors of one of the most popular T20 leagues in the world.
