Home Cricket Reports | Maharashtra Government Assure BCCI To Lend ‘All Support’ To Host IPL In The City

Reports | Maharashtra Government Assure BCCI To Lend ‘All Support’ To Host IPL In The City

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Reports | Maharashtra Government Assure BCCI To Lend ‘All Support’ To Host IPL In The City

Former BCCI President Sharad Pawar, a significant political figure, is said to have assured BCCI that the Maharashtra government will lend ‘full support’ to host a part of IPL 2021 in the city. Despite rising cases, the possibility of having crowds at 50% capacity is also being mulled.

Earlier this week, reports emerged that Mumbai was out of contention to host games in IPL 2021 owing to a surge in the Covid cases in the city. The state of Maharashtra, over the course of the past month, has seen a steady rise in the number of Covid cases and that even led to the government banning crowds for the three-match ODI series between India and England.

But good news could be coming the way of residents of Mumbai – and members of the Mumbai Indians franchise – as Sharad Pawar, a senior and influential figure in administration in the state of Maharashtra, is said to have assured the board that the state government will do everything within their power to try and stage parts of IPL 2021 in Mumbai.

Cricbuzz reports that IPL chairman Brijesh Patel, BCCI acting CEO Hemang Amin, and a couple of Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) officials met Pawar in Mumbai earlier this week to discuss the possibility of hosting games in Mumbai, and the BCCI are said to have received a positive response from the 80-year-old, who is a former BCCI and ICC President.

Should the go-ahead be given to host games in Mumbai, it is also believed that there could very well be a good chance of stadiums overseeing crowds. One of the senior officials involved in the meeting with Pawar earlier this week has told Cricbuzz that, like Ahmedabad and Chennai in the ongoing Tests, games in Mumbai in IPL 2021 could see crowds be allowed at 50% capacity.

“The general impression at the meeting was that it should be just like in Ahmedabad or Chennai, where the 50 per cent crowds are/were allowed,” a source in the know told Cricbuzz.

Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, and Delhi are currently the prime contenders to host the games, but SRH, RR, and Punjab are believed to be pushing the BCCI to host games in their respective home venues.