IPL 2022: Each Venue Will Have 5 Pitches Prepared For The Tournament- Reports

The IPL 2022 season will get underway on March 26 and will be played across four venues in two cities, Mumbai and Pune. This has brought up the question regarding the longevity of the surfaces – will they last long enough?

The previous season in the UAE turned out to be a disappointment for the enthusiastic T20 fans as the surfaces barely held up and the matches generally saw 150 being a par total. This time around, the pitches are expected to be perfect for T20, as per reports.

“Each venue has five pitches. This will ensure that the pitches are rotated,” Nadim Memom, member of MCA’s apex council and the ground in charge for all three Mumbai venues, told TOI.

“This means that a pitch will get a week’s rest after the game there’ll be enough time to give it water and roll it for the next match. The other thing is that in the T20s, the wear and tear on the wicket is far less compared to other formats. The seamers bowl a maximum of 12 overs, so there’s not much damage on the surface due to footmarks,” ex-Wankhede curator, Sudhir Naik mentioned.

Dew unlikely to play a huge role at Mumbai venues in IPL 2022 season

In the second phase of the IPL 2021 season and the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 that was held in the UAE, teams opted to chase every time they won the toss as the dew played a huge role. As a result, the teams that won the toss ended up winning most of the matches. However, it won’t be the case in Mumbai, as Memom elaborates.

“The dew factor in Mumbai isn’t as big as it is in the UAE or North India. The dew only kicks in post 9:30 pm here, and it can be taken care of by the super sopper. The second thing is that the clay on the UAE wickets is imported from Pakistan, which means that the bounce isn’t great, neither does the ball turn much.”

“If you see the wickets in the current Australia-Pakistan series, they’re as flat as they are in the UAE. However, the wickets in Mumbai and Pune will offer exciting cricket. All the grounds are in good shape. We staged 10 IPL matches last year without any hitches. We’ll stage it successfully this time too,” Memon added.

The season begins on March 26 when CSK takes on KKR at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

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