Picture Credit: IPL/Twitter
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 schedule announcement is just around the corner and as reported by SportsTiger earlier, the league phase of the tournament is set to be held in venues across Mumbai and Pune. The three top venues in IPL GC's list of potential venues in Mumbai also include the Wankhede Stadium, the home ground for Mumbai Indians.
As BCCI plans to hold the bulk of the games at the Wankhede Stadium, a few franchises are sceptical about the idea. They are not so convinced with the idea as Mumbai Indians will enjoy an undue home advantage while other franchises will play away from their home grounds. According to a TOI report, a few franchises have raised their concerns over MI getting added advantage and has also reckoned it unfair for others.
"None of the other teams are getting home matches. It will be unfair if MI play a lot of their matches at Wankhede, which has been their den for years. The franchises have raised this concern. The franchisees don't have an issue with Mumbai Indians playing the bulk of their matches at DY Patil stadium and in Pune. Even the Brabourne stadium is fine. Hopefully, the BCCI will look into the matter," a franchise source was quoted saying.
Notably, while arranging the IPL last year, the BCCI had ensured that none of the eight franchises enjoy home advantage as they were made to play games at venues other than their home ground.
What happens now?
If franchises continue to oppose this move from the BCCI, it will be a big problem for the board. As the officials have already confirmed that they are completely convinced about hosting the tournament in India and that too on time, they will stick to it. Although the COVID-19 third wave is on a decline, the board is sceptical about holding the tournament across different cities to avoid any outburst like last year.
"Air travel of so many teams is the biggest threat of an outbreak. BCCI doesn't really want to take chances. The first objective is to complete the league in time in India. No one can predict when another wave may start," a BCCI official was said quoting in TOI report.
In this case, either the franchises will have to settle the debate from their end or the BCCI will need to put their brains out on the meeting table to come up with a solution.