The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is planning to start the next edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on April 2, 2022. The fixtures have not been finalised but the BCCI has internally conveyed to the key stakeholders that April 2, in all probability, is the date and Chennai, in all certainty, will be the venue.
As against 60 games and eight teams hitherto, the league, in its 15th edition, will have 10 teams and 74 games in all and the BCCI has discussed internally that the length of the season will be for over 60 days. The final, thus, could be in the first weekend of June, that is either on June 4 or 5. Each team will have 14 league games with the current format of seven home and away games each retained.
Also Read:AB de Villiers retires from IPL; quits all forms of cricket
As Chennai Super Kings are the defending champions, Chepauk will be the obvious choice for the inaugural game but there is no formal decision if their opponents will, again, be Mumbai Indians, which has been the case mostly.
That the IPL will be returning to India fully was announced by BCCI secretary Jay Shah during his recent speech in Chennai, where CSK celebrated their fourth IPL win.
"I know you all are waiting to see the CSK play at Chepauk. Well, the moment is not very far. The 15th season of the IPL will take place in India and it will be more exciting than ever with two new teams joining. We have a mega auction coming up, so it will be interesting to see what the new combinations look like," the BCCI secretary had said at the function. The full season of 2020 and a half season of 2021 were staged in UAE.
Indian team to leave for SA on Dec 8
Meanwhile, it has been learnt that the Indian team will leave for South Africa on December 8. The team will fly out from Mumbai where India will play their second and final Test against New Zealand from December 3 to 7. The tour consists of three Tests, as many ODIs and four Twenty20 Internationals.
Also Read:Jeremy Solozano taken to hospital after blow to head
Give Your Feedback