IPL 2022 is a few weeks away, and according to the latest reports, the tournament’s league stage will happen in Mumbai and Pune. For the first time in the tournament’s history, only two cities will host the entire league stage. This report has confused many fans because normally, the IPL matches happen in at least eight cities across India on a home and away basis.
However, keeping the COVID-19 pandemic in mind, the BCCI has reportedly decided against taking any risks and decided to host the IPL 2022 matches in Mumbai and Pune only. There are three venues in Mumbai that can host matches, whereas the MCA Stadium of Pune will be the fourth venue.
Last year, the BCCI planned to host the IPL matches in Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Mumbai. The tournament got underway in Chennai and Mumbai and then reached Ahmedabad and Delhi. However, there was a COVID outbreak in the bio-bubble which forced the BCCI to stop the matches and play the remaining games in the UAE.
The advantage of hosting the matches in the UAE was that all venues were close to each other, which was why there was no need of any air travel. Similarly, Mumbai and Pune are in close distance, so IPL 2022 should happen safely.
Some franchises are not happy with BCCI’s plan to host IPL 2022 in Mumbai and Pune
While the plan looks good, some franchises have objected it because the Mumbai Indians will get to play more home matches than any other team. Here’s what an IPL franchise official told TOI:
“None of the other teams are getting home matches. It will be unfair if MI play a lot of their matches at Wankhede, which has been their den for years. The franchises have raised this concern.”
It will be interesting to see what happens next in this direction related to the 2022 IPL season.
