BCCI Secretary Jay Shah on Saturday confirmed that the 15th season of the Indian Premier League will begin from the final week in March and will end will continue till May end. He also added that he will ensure that the tournament is played in India.
The second stage of IPL 2021 was staged in the UAE in September after the first stage of the tournament was suspended temporarily following rise on Covid cases in the country. While the BCCI is yet to lock in on the venues, it has been reported that franchise owners have preferred Mumbai and Pune as the two cities to host the entire season of the IPL.
“I am delighted to confirm that the 15th season of the IPL will start in the last week of March and will run until May end. A majority of the team owners expressed their wish that the tournament be held in India. The BCCI was always keen on staging the 2022 edition that will see two new teams – Ahmedabad and Lucknow – in India. I can tell you that we will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that IPL stays in India,” BCCI Secretary Jay Shah told ANI.
This implies that the Indian team members will have lesser time to gear up for the tournament given that India will play their last international game against Sri Lanka, a T20I match in Lucknow on March 18.
Jay Shah further added that the mega auction of the 15th season will be held on February 12 and 13 with the venue yet to be decided.
“BCCI has not compromised on the health & safety of its stakeholders in the past & will concurrently work on Plan B since Covid-9 situation with new variants remains fluid. Mega IPL Auction will take place on Feb 12-13th & we'll lock in venues before that,” he added.
The two-day mega auction will see 10 teams bidding for some of the finest talents in world cricket. The players' list incorporates 270 capped, 903 uncapped, and 41 Associate players.
The detailed list is as follows: Capped Indian (61 players), Capped International (209 players), Associate (41 players), Uncapped Indians who were a part of previous IPL seasons (143 players), Uncapped International who were a part of previous IPL seasons (6 players), Uncapped Indians (692 players), and Uncapped Internationals (62 players).