IPL 2022: BCCI Willing To Conduct Entire IPL In Maharashtra Amid Pandemic Threat- Reports

As per reports in the Times of India, the BCCI is looking to stage the entire IPL 2022 in Mumbai despite growing cases of Covid 19 in the country. The Omicron variant has started affecting the population of the country forcing the government to reinstate lockdown. Mumbai is one of the cities with the highest number of positive cases. In a situation like this, the BCCI is thinking about staging the tournament entirely in Mumbai in its three different venues.

The IPL 2022 will see two new teams (Lucknow, Ahmedabad) coming into the fold. The franchises have already submitted their retained list of players ahead of the start of the 15th season.

Meanwhile, the reports further said that the matches will be held across the 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.

IPL 2022: Mumbai To Host Matches Despite Covid Threat

“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.

The sources further said that keeping the matches in Mumbai and Pune will eliminate flight travel which was one of the concerns of the government. It added that in case the IPL needs to be shifted out of India, UAE is their next best option.

“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.

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