IPL 2022 to be entirely played in India behind closed doors
The IPL 2022 will be a ten-team affair with the addition of two new teams Lucknow and Ahmedabad respectively. As of now, there is no clarity on the official dates of the 15th edition of the marquee tournament. However, it has been reported that it could get underway in early April or in the last week of March. Meanwhile, it has been reported that the upcoming edition of the IPL could be played behind closed doors.
The move of not welcoming the spectators inside stadiums could’ve been taken due to the rising COVID-19 cases in the country. At the same time, the report also states that the entire tournament could be played in Mumbai.
“IPL 2022 will be held in India without a crowd. Likely venues are Wankhede Stadium, Cricket Club of India (CCI), DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai & Pune if needed,” said a top source in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) according to News18.
IPL 2022 to be played in India only
At the same time, the top BCCI source has also made it clear that there is no question of shifting the tournament abroad and it will only be played in India itself. “IPL 2022 will be in India only. It will be in Mumbai and will be without a crowd,” the top source added.
The 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League was entirely played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) across three venues- Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and, Sharjah respectively. The first leg of the 2021 edition took place in India before it was indefinitely suspended owing to a surge in coronavirus cases in the country. The second leg was once again shifted to the Middle East.
It remains to be seen if the BCCI will come up with a backup plan leading up to the cash-rich tournament in the summer. As of now, the highly-anticipated IPL 2022 mega auction is scheduled to take place on February 12 & 13 with all the participating teams looking forward to making the best use of the available resources in their hands at the auction table in what is expected to be a high-intensity bidding war.
