IPL 2022 to start on March 27; 1st option India, 2nd South Africa | Cricket News – Times of India

MUMBAI: The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), beginning on March 27 and likely to go on for 60-plus days, will be held in India or South Africa. The final call hasn’t been taken yet, but the UAE and Sri Lanka can be safely ruled out, reports K Shriniwas Rao.
BCCI officials, the chairman of the IPL Governing Council and the interim CEO of the board, who also heads all IPL affairs, met the 10 IPL franchise owners on Saturday. On the issue of the destination, while BCCI wants the IPL in India, all franchise owners agreed that it should be held at a place where it will remain incident-free. If it has to be moved overseas, a majority favoured South Africa.

One of the suggestions at the meeting was that if the tournament is held in India, it can be held in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, where three stadiums are available along with as many practice grounds.

While four franchises suggested it should either be played in India or be moved to South Africa, one maintained that it should move to UAE if it can’t be held in India.

One franchise believes UAE should be the only destination. Two franchises decided to go with the majority while two left it for BCCI to take the call. None of the stakeholders suggested Sri Lanka as an option.

The BCCI considered all options and said another meeting will be called in a week’s time, ahead of the mega-auction, to arrive at the final decision.

“I am delighted to confirm that the 15th season will start in the last week of March and run until May-end. Majority of the team owners expressed their wish that the tournament be held in India,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement after the meeting, without going into the details of the venue. “The BCCI was always keen on staging the 2022 edition that will see two new teams – Ahmedabad and Lucknow – in India. I can tell you that we will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that IPL stays in India.”

That aside, the Indian cricket board is also of the view that the IPL must not go back to the UAE. Among the reasons are that pitches in UAE have gone through a great deal of wear and tear; matches at some venues have become extremely predictable after toss; and that the Indian board aid the Emirates board fees to the tune of Rs 150 crore (approx. US$21m) to conduct the full 2020 edition and Phase-2 of the 2021 edition in the UAE and would not like to spend so heavily once again.

All these suggestions from the stakeholders have made South Africa firm favourites to host the league, should Covid precautions restrict India from hosting it.

Having last hosted an IPL in 2009, which was a grand success, moving the tournament to South Africa again will give BCCI the options of multiple destinations, a decreasing Covid spike, tarmacto-tarmac flying facilities, pleasant weather and good conditions, alongside thorough support from Cricket South Africa (CSA).

“The BCCI has not compromised on the health and safety of its stakeholders in the past and will concurrently work on Plan B since the COVID-19 situation with new variants remains fluid. The mega IPL Auction will take place on February 12-13 and we will lock in venues before that,” Shah said.