According to reports, the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking forward to conducting the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Maharashtra. The reports further suggest that the BCCI have kept overseas conditions as a backup if the Maharashtra option is ruled out.
IPL 2022 will be an exciting season with the addition of two new teams, and Lucknow and Ahmedabad will begin their journey in the cash-rich league from the 15th edition of the tournament. The IPL franchises have already submitted their final retentions ahead of the 15th edition of the tournament, which will feature a mega auction and two new participating teams.
The BCCI had earlier asserted that the 15th edition of the IPL will be held in India, and the governing body looked confident of their plans for the upcoming season of the cash-rich league. However, according to TOI reports, the BCCI is looking forward to staging the entire tournament in Maharashtra as the new Covid-19 variant Omicron is rapidly spreading in the country.
The report further suggested that the governing body is planning to organize the lucrative league across three venues in Mumbai – the Wankhede stadium, Brabourne stadium, the DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai, and the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Gahunje, near Pune.
According to reports, the BCCI have kept overseas conditions as a backup to conduct the 15th edition of the IPL if the Maharashtra option is ruled out. Conducting the whole tournament in Maharasthra one nearby venue in Pune, will help the governing body to eliminate air travelling during the competition.
“On January 5, Hemang Amin (BCCI’s interim CEO and the Chief Operating Officer of the IPL) approached Vijay Patil (Mumbai Cricket Association president) in this regard, on the sidelines of the MCA’s Apex Council meeting. Subsequently, a few days later, Amin and Patil met Sharad Pawar at the NCP supremo’s residence. Pawar has given his green signal to the BCCI’s proposal. During this week or in the next 10 days, he, the BCCI and MCA officials will meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and state chief secretary Debashish Chakrabarty to arrange for the necessary permission in this regard. There should be no problem on this front, as the tournament will be played in a strict bio bubble with no crowds, and the players and officials will be tested frequently,” reliable sources informed TOI.
“As of now, the plan is to stage the IPL in India. If, however, the Maharashtra option too is ruled out in the future, then the BCCI might be forced to take the IPL to the UAE again,” revealed a source to TOI.
