Covid-19 could spike Mumbai’s IPL-14 chances
MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League is expected to begin in the second week of April in a caravan model where each team stays at a venue for a certain number of matches before moving to the next bio secure hub and Mumbai may not be part of those plans because of Maharashtra’s high number of Covid-19 cases.
That’s the latest from the IPL planning room, according to informal verbal communications between the BCCI and the IPL’S franchises.
“We haven’t taken any final call on Mumbai yet. There will be an IPL Governing Council meeting soon,” a BCCI official, who did not wish to be named, said. The Maharashtra government has given permission to stage the India-england One Day Internationals starting March 23 in Pune, but without crowds.
In fact, at this stage, a franchise official who did not wish to be named said, the IPL is looking at starting the tournament without crowds for the first three weeks. But the health situation being dynamic, things could change.
Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Kolkata have been earmarked as the five venues. Matches in Kolkata are only likely after assembly elections counting is over on May 2. Various permutations and combinations are being worked out and officials said that like Mumbai, “Hyderabad hasn’t been ruled out yet” as well.
There is no mention of Mohali and Jaipur, the home base of Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals.
“I am surprised at the exclusion of Mohali Cricket Stadium for the upcoming IPL season. I urge and appeal to @BCCI & @IPL to reconsider their decision. There is no reason why Mohali can’t host IPL and our Government will make all necessary arrangements for safety against #Covid19,” Capt Amarinder Singh, Punjab, CM tweeted.
Last Sunday, KT Rama Rao, Minister in the Hyderabad state government put out a tweet. “Open appeal to @BCCI and @IPL office bearers to include Hyderabad as one of the venues for upcoming IPL season. Our effective COVID containment measures are reflected in our low number of cases among all metro cities in India & we assure you of all support from the Govt.”
Hyderabad cricket association president Mohammed Azharuddin backed the minister’s appeal. A tweet from the Youth Congress twitter handle accused the BCCI of moving matches out of non-bjp ruled states.
Punjab Kings have also formally written to the BCCI to understand the rationale behind their match allocation policy.
“We were told on Sunday that Mohali is not part of the plan and that there would be no home or away matches for any team. But no reasons were given. We would like to be part of a consultative process,” said Punjab Kings co-owner Ness Wadia.
Sunrisers Hyderabad have written to BCCI, too. “We have written to know more. We would like matches to be at our home base in Hyderabad,” Sunrisers Hyderabad CEO, K Shanmugam said. Royals have also sought clarifications, informally.
Franchises are keen to figure out exactly what disadvantages they will have to face if there are no home games.
“If they employ the caravan model, one will imagine all operational expenses as well as gate receipts will be centrally managed by BCCI. Otherwise, it will be grossly unfair if some teams can make gate money and others can’t ,” said one franchise executive who did not wish to be named.
Each franchise annually makes roughly ₹3-5 crores of gate money from each IPL match. BCCI makes a similar amount from play-off matches, which are likely to be held this year in Ahmedabad’s new 1,10,000 seater stadium.
“Even if a franchise is not benefitting from gate receipts, home advantage in terms of pitches you play on, the crowds…they ware all important factors,” said another franchise official who also did not want to be named.