The fifteenth season of IPL will start from March 26, the T20 league’s chairman Brijesh Patel has confirmed. The decision was finalized during an IPL Governing Council meeting held virtually on Thursday.
Additionally, crowd, in limited numbers, will also be allowed at the venues.
“The IPL will kick off on March 26, the full schedule will come soon. We will also have crowds but as per the policy of the Maharashtra government. Whether it will be 25 or 50 per cent of the stadium capacity will be decided by the government instruction,” Patel was quoted as saying by cricbuzz,
As per the report, the entire IPL season will be held in Maharashtra. 55 matches will be held in Mumbai while 15 in Pune. The contests will be held across four stadiums including Wankhede Stadium, Brabourne Stadium, DY Patil Stadium (all in Mumbai) and Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) ground (Pune).
The final of the season will be held on May 29 but the playoff venues are still to be decided. “We will decide about the play-offs later,” Patel said.
The BCCI has also identified four venues to allow the teams to practice. The venues are BKC ground in Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, Brabourne Stadium in South Mumbai, DY Patil ground in Navi Mumbai and either MCA Ground in Kandivali or in Thane.
Additionally, like previous seasons, the Women’s T20 Challenge will be held prior to the start of the season.
The IPL 2020 was held entirely in UAE due to the coronavirus situation in the country. Last season, the league returned to India but was halted midway after the coronavirus outbreak in various franchises’ bio-secure bubbles and eventually resumed in UAE later.
However, this time around, the entire season will be held in the country with the board mentioning there’s no plan to take it overseas.
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