The situation with COVID-19 is getting worse in India and the country is recording more than 1 lakh cases every day. Many provinces in India are seeing another wave of COVID and infection has had its impact on cricket as well. BCCI has already canceled several domestic tournaments and COVID is now threatening to have an effect on the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 as well.
The BCCI remains assured of the condition coming under control in the coming months, but is open to taking the tournament abroad if the situation worsens. As per the sports media, the focus, though, remains on hosting the tournament in India.
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Says.
“We are examining all options which include foreign IPL as well. But our focus is to host IPL in India for sure. As of now our priority is auction, we will soon take a call,”.
Well, it will be the third time when Indian Primer League will take spot outside India due to COVID. The entire season of IPL 2020 was played in UAE. In 2021, the BCCI was only able to stage 30 matches in India. The tournament had to be postponed in May as COVID-19 breached the bio-bubble. The BCCI also hosted the T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE.
With 2 new teams in the mix, the teams will be looking to retain the best players.
The Team India is scheduled to host West Indies and Sri Lanka in the home season and a final call regarding IPL 2022 might only be taken after these series.
Earlier the IPL 2022, the board is also scheduled to host the mega auction for the season 15th . Since it’s a mega auction, it will be a two-day affair. As per the news, the IPL 2022 auction is scheduled to take spot on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru. The 15th edition of the tournament is likely to kick off in March.