IPL to kick off on Saturday

GBNEWS24DESK//

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 will kick off on Saturday.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the IPL Governing Council (GC) on Thursday evening.

At a busy meeting, held virtually, the GC has also confirmed that the IPL will be staged in Maharashtra, with 55 games in Mumbai and 15 in Pune.

Four stadiums have been identified for the league, with the break-up of the games being 20 at the Wankhede, 15 at Brabourne Stadium, 20 more at DY Patil Stadium and finally 15 at Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) ground in Gahunje.

IPL chairman Brijesh Patel has confirmed the news and revealed that the tournament will not be played out in front of empty stands like the last few editions, barring the UAE leg of IPL 2021.

“The IPL will kick off on March 26, the full schedule will come soon. We will also have crowds but as per the policy of the Maharashtra government. Whether it will be 25 or 50 per cent of the stadium capacity will be decided by the government instruction,” he added.

As previously reported, Star, the host broadcaster, insisted on a Saturday start to the league so that it can set the momentum for the league with a double header on March 27, a Sunday, which, otherwise, would not be possible, reports Cricbuzz.

The tournament is set to wrap up on Sunday, May 29. The venues for the playoffs are yet to be decided but there have been talks of holding them in Ahmedabad. When asked about it, Patel said, “We will decide about the play-offs later.”