Not even a month left for the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League. The Indian cricket board is yet to finalize the venues and dates. Reportedly the Council chairman along with few officials met Sharad Pawar to get assurance about hosting the matches in Mumbai.
What happened in the meeting?
After hosting the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League in the UAE quite smoothly amid the risk of pandemics, the BCCI is ready to host the next edition in the country itself. Initially, they had planned to do most of the matches in Mumbai and Pune along with playoffs in Ahmedabad. But the recent numbers in Maharashtra have been worrying and due to the new enforced restrictions, it might get difficult to arrange matches in the state. In the same context, the IPL chairman Brijesh Patel, BCCI acting CEO Hemang Amin and a couple of Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) officials met former BCCI president Sharad Pawar in Mumbai, on Wednesday and asked for his help to arrange the matches of the upcoming IPL in Mumbai.
It was the rise of Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra that made the dignitaries meet Pawar who is an influential figure in the Maharashtra state government. The IPL is tentatively scheduled to start around April 10 and the BCCI wants to be certain about the possibility of Mumbai as a host. The BCCI said it would announce the dates once the IPL Governing Council approved the schedule.
What’s next?
Reportedly, Pawar assured them that the state government of Maharashtra would extend all possible support for the smooth run of the Indian Premier League. With just about a month left for the start of the tournament, the BCCI shortlisted six centers, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi, and possibly in Mumbai too to organize the matches. However, it is mandatory to finalize everything as the soonest including the venues and dates.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad, Jaipur, and Mohali franchises also want the matches to be held at their homes too. How the BCCI manages everything professionally keeping everyone happy would be interesting to observe.
