MUMBAI — The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is keen on hosting the blockbuster Indian Premier League (IPL) season fifteen in Maharashtra. The reports from close sources informed that the cricket board will keep its overseas conditions alive if the situation deteriorates in Maharashtra.
It is noteworthy that earlier BCCI secretary Jay Shah said that the BCCI will be hosting the entire IPL 2022 in India itself. The cricket board was confident with its plans, however, with the covid situation in India again getting more threatening, the board is exploring all the available options.
The upcoming IPL 2022 will be bigger than ever. The event will feature 10 teams as Lucknow and Ahmedabad get inducted into the existing pool of eight teams. Moreover, the IPL 2022 mega auction will be held by the BCCI, which is reckoned as the last mega auction hosted by the BCCI.
The reports further indicated that the cricket board is contemplating hosting IPL 2022 in Maharashtra’s four top grounds – Wankhede Stadium, Brabourne Stadium, DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Gahunje.
“On January 5th, Hemang Amin (Interim CEO of BCCI and COO of IPL) approached Vijay Patil (President of the Mumbai Cricket Association) about this, on the sidelines of the Apex Council meeting of the MCA. Subsequently, a few days later, Amin and Patil met Sharad Pawar at the residence of NCP supremo. Pawar gave his green signal to the BCCI proposal. During this week or over the next 10 days, he, BCCI and MCA officials will meet with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Head of State Secretary Debashish Chakrabarty to make arrangements to secure the necessary authorization in this regard. There should be no problem in this regard, as the tournament will be played in a strict bio bubble with no crowds, and players and officials will be tested frequently, ”reliable sources informed TOI.
However, the source further said that with time the picture will get clearer and the board will take necessary steps according to that. If Maharashtra gets ruled out, BCCI may opt to host the IPL 2022 in the UAE again.
“For now, the plan is to hold the IPL in India. If, however, the Maharashtra option is also ruled out in the future, the BCCI may be forced to take over the IPL in the United Arab Emirates,” a source told TOI.