Former India opener Aakash Chopra feels that it would be easy to stage the entire IPL 2022 across four venues in Maharashtra. IPL 2021 was originally scheduled to take place across six venues in India. However, the tournament was postponed and subsequently moved to the UAE due to the increased positive COVID-19 cases when they moved from the initial two venues, Mumbai and Chennai, to the next host cities – Delhi and Ahmedabad as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said: “If we have got a 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.”
He continued: “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.”
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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will try to stage IPL 2022 in India only as hosting the tournament in the UAE is not only a financial hit but also increases the logistical headaches as well. And, Aakash Chopra stated that IPL 2022 can be played entirely in Mumbai or Maharashtra.
He explained: “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.”
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“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.
