Former India opener Aakash Chopra feels it would be a great decision to stage the entire IPL 2022 across four venues in Maharashtra as well.
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While the entire world is once again fighting against the global pandemic novel COVID-19, cricketing events are also getting suffered. Amid this, hosting IPL 2022 across India might be a problem too. Aakash Chopra feels it would be a great decision to stage the entire IPL 2022 across four venues in Maharashtra.
IPL 2021 was originally slated to take place across six venues in India. But, the tournament got postponed and shifted to the UAE. The increased COVID-19 cases hit the teams and many players got affected.
On his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said air travel was one of the issues in IPL 2021. “If we have got learning from the last IPL, it is that you cannot be ambitious, you cannot travel. If you are going to travel too much, then you are flirting with danger, do not do that,” Chopra stated.
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The veteran cricketer-turned-commentator expects IPL 2022 to take place in India and not in the UAE. Chopra added: “Where will the IPL happen? It is not happening in the UAE, it has not been part of any discussion till now. Because it will happen in March-April, the COVID wave should hopefully go down till then. Things will be a lot normal, a lot easier – it will happen in India.”
Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will hope to host the IPL 2022 entirely in India. He believes hosting it in the UAE is not only a financial problem but also increases the logistical headaches.
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Aakash Chopra also claimed that IPL 2022 can be staged entirely in Mumbai or Maharashtra. He revealed: “But there has been a contingency plan kept to stage it in Maharashtra only because the travel is very limited in Maharashtra. There are three grounds in Mumbai and if you want to stretch it a little, you can go to Pune – which is at a driving distance.”
The veteran also cited that the entire IPL 2020 and the second leg of IPL 2021 had taken place across just three venues. Only time will tell how the BCCI will manage this time.
“The entire IPL can happen on four grounds when you staged it in only three grounds in the UAE – Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Then Maharashtra has four grounds – DY Patil, CCI, Wankhede Stadium and Pune. So you can stage it there, that must be on the table,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
