IPL 2022 Venue & Starting Date: Indian Premier League 2022 to be held in UAE, South Africa or Mumbai and Pune?

IPL 2022 venue and starting date: The future of the Indian Premier League 2022 edition still remains in limbo as yet another Covid-19 wave sweeps across the country. The last two editions — IPL 2020 and IPL 2021 — were both held between the waves of Coronavirus with IPL 2021 even being stopped midway during the peak of Coronavirus second wave in April and then being resumed in September in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Several factors, like the supposedly lesser-lethal Omicron variant that has prevailed during the Covid-19 third wave has given organisers and team owners hope that the rise in Covid cases will eventually ebb in the coming weeks and the marquee tournament will after all be held in India.

IPL 2022 Start Date
As far as reports are concerned, PTI has stated that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is mulling two start dates for the Indian Premier League 2022. The report states that one of the IPL 2022 starting dates is April 2 (which adheres to the Lodha Committee ruling), while the other IPL kickoff date under consideration is March 27.

As per the report, a senior BCCI official has said that a few team owners have a preference for March 27 as the IPL 2021 start date, but with India playing their last international game against Sri Lanka (a T20 International at Lucknow on March 18) and a 14-day gap mandated after that as per Lodha Committee, the other start date could be April 2.

IPL 2022 Venues:
The IPL 2022 will be an even larger spectacle this time around with two new teams — Lucknow and Ahmedabad — joining the eight other teams in the tournament. Reports have said that all the 10 IPL team owners unanimously want the Indian Premier League 2022 to be held in India — with Mumbai and Pune among frontrunners to host IPL’s 15th edition.

However, in case Coronavirus conditions do not permit organisers to hold the IPL in India, then the BCCI wishes to hold the 15th edition of the tournament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where the IPL has been held thrice. Also, South Africa (where the mega event was held back in 2009) is another overseas destination where the IPL could be played this year.