BCCI to discuss plans for IPL 2022 venues, auction with owners on Saturday

NEW DELHI, Jan 21: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is planning to have a virtual meeting with the owners of the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise on Saturday to discuss the potential venues for the IPL 2022 and upcoming mega auction.

During the meeting, the BCCI will apprise the owners about their planning for the 15th edition of the IPL and the status of the auction, scheduled to be held next month.

Keeping in mind the Covid-19 situation in India, South Africa and Sri Lanka are stand-by options to stage the tournament but the board and IPL Governing Council officials are set to inform the franchise owners that all efforts are being made to organise the tournament in India itself — with Mumbai and Pune being in their plans, a Cricbuzz report said.

The recent developments have pointed towards flattening of the curve but whether the situation is unsettling or not is a call for the operational wing of the IPL to take. As of now, BCCI officials are optimistic about staging the event in India.

Meanwhile, there are also discussions on the choice of Bengaluru for the mega auction on February 12 and 13. At this stage, there is no decision whether the auction will be moved out of the southern city but there is a thinking that Mumbai is a better choice.

Notably, a majority of the IPL franchise officials and owners, barring the three teams from down South — Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore — are based in Mumbai and by shifting the auction venue, the travel of a lot of people can be avoided. However, the final decision has not been made.

The other big point of the meeting is a formal introduction of the owners of the new Ahmedabad and Lucknow teams. Sanjiv Goenka, the proprietor of the Lucknow team, and Amit Soni and Siddharth Patel, who hold key positions in CVC Capital over the Ahmedabad franchise matters are likely to meet the eight other franchise owners.

Besides, the deadline for the two new franchises to announce the players they have picked via drafts ends on Saturday and the BCCI may reveal those names.

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