Amid the rising COVID-19 cases across the country, the BCCI is planning to stage the entire IPL 2022 without crowds.
#IPL2022 will be held in India without a crowd. Likely venues are Wankhede Stadium, Cricket Club of India (CCI), DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai & Pune if needed: Top sources in BCCI to ANI
— ANI (@ANI) January 22, 2022
The report indicates that the Indian board is planning to hold the cash-rich tournament across three venues in Mumbai – Wankhede Stadium, Brabourne Stadium, and DY Patil Stadium – as well as the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Gahunje, near Pune.
In addition, the sources of BCCI said that holding the matches in Mumbai and Pune would eliminate flight travel, which was one of the concerns for the BCCI after the COVID cases last year.
If the Maharashtra option is ruled out in the future, the BCCI may be forced to take the IPL to the UAE once again.
In 2022, the IPL will expand to 10 teams with the addition of two new franchises based in Lucknow and Ahmedabad.
