The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) top brass, the Indian Premier League governing council members and the franchise owners had a virtual meeting on Saturday, January 22 to discuss the venue for the upcoming edition of IPL among other things.
According to sources, the BCCI is confident of hosting IPL 2022 in India, but is working towards creating a backup plan in case the Covid-19 cases in the country don’t go down by the time the T20 tournament gets underway.
“The board is hopeful of having IPL 2022 played a home. The availability of multiple grounds in Mumbai and Pune will make it easier as the new season will have 10 teams – one from Ahmedabad and the other from Lucknow” an BCCI insider, who attended the meeting, told Cricket Age.
The BCCI is targeting Mumbai and Pune as the two venues to host IPL 2022. Hosting the tournament in the Mumbai-Pune corridor will give the board a viable option to create a cluster and use only road travel, thereby eliminating the risks associated with air travel in the wake of the pandemic.
The Mumbai-Pune arrangement also makes it easier for logistics.
The board’s backup plan for the venue will be dictated by the Covid-19 cases in the days to come. However, the franchise owners prefer either the UAE or South Africa as the alternate venue in case IPL 2022 needs to be moved out of India.
IPL 2021 was held in Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi but the 14th season was suspended midway after 30 matches due to Covid-19 cases in bio-bubbles of franchises in Ahmedabad and Delhi. The BCCI shifted the tournament out of India and it resumed in the UAE from September in the lead up to the T20 World Cup.
