According to a top BCCI official, the cricket board has decided that the 2022 Indian Premier League is all set to be held in India.
As schools, colleges, and other educational institutions are reopening in the states, with the third wave of Covid narrowing down, the BCCI is confident in organising this year’s IPL in India. The last two years tournaments were held in the United Arab Emirates.Before the postponement of the 2021 IPL and its subsequent relocation to UAE, the IPL had 29 games in India.
Unlike last year, when the Covid cases were rising in the month of April-May, the BCCI feels that this time the situation is different. Now a lot of people have been double-vaccinated and the Omicron variant of the virus is weakening. Also from January, the government has started vaccination for children of age group 15-18 years.A couple of weeks ago, during the IPL governing council’s meeting with the franchise owner, India appeared as a preferred choice to host the IPL this year, even though the consensus among the franchise owners was to organize it in Maharashtra only, to avoid air travel.
During the first two years of its existence, the UAE successfully hosted the IPL across three venues in that country. Maharashtra has four venues, three in Mumbai and one in Pune.Ultimately, the franchise owners left the choice of venue to the BCCI, requesting a final decision before the auction so they could plan their strategies. The entire auction will take place in Bangalore on February 12 and 13.
This year the IPL has two teams following the addition of the Lucknow and Ahmedabad franchises and the tournament will have 74 matches. However, the BCCI has yet to make a final decision whether Maharashtra will serve as the sole venue or if it will return to normal; teams will play at their home venues.As a hosting fee, state associations receive Rs 1 crore per game - split 50-50 between the franchise and the BCCI. Given that state associations are the BCCI's largest stakeholders, this is also taken into account.