Picture Credit: Twitter
The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League is now just a month away. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced that the tournament will start on 26 March. Also, the venues for the league stage games have been confirmed with Mumbai getting to host 55 of the 70 league games. But a full-fledged schedule is still awaited. However, as per the latest reports coming, the season is set to kick off with the rematch of the IPL 2021 final i.e. Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders match.
Talking about the venues, the Wankhede Stadium, the Brabourne Stadium, and Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium have been selected as the three venues in Mumbai to host the games while Mumbai Cricket Association’s ground in Bandra-Kurla Complex and Dadoji Kondadev Stadium in Thane have been identified as training facilities for the teams. This means that the teams will have to travel by road between the practice venue and match venue and everyone is well aware of the Mumbai traffic snarls.
So, to avoid any effect of heavy traffic on the smooth conduct of the tournament, the Maharashtra government has ensured the BCCI that they will be creating dedicated lanes for teams. A report in The Indian Express has confirmed the development. The report claims that a meeting was held on Saturday between MCA GC, BCCI officials and Maharashtra’s tourism and environment minister, Aaditya Thackeray where the decision was taken.
"Maharashtra government is going to fully support BCCI to organise a successful IPL. The decision regarding allowing crowds will be decided by Chief Minister Hon’ble Uddhav Thackeray," chairman of MCA’s governing council, Milind Narvekar was quoted saying by the Indian Express.
Two teams in one hotel
Organizing a tournament of IPL's stature is not easy and the COVID-19 pandemic has only made things complicated. Also, with the introduction of two new teams, BCCI will have to make a lot of arrangements. Accommodation is one thing that the BCCI needs to look after carefully in order to keep the tournament in shape. For that, the board has decided to house two teams in one five-star hotel.
