BCCI considering 4-5 venues for IPL 2021 after COVID-19 surge in Mumbai
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"So cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Kolkata will be ready to host matches. Ahmedabad, in all likelihood, will host the play-off and final match of the IPL," he said.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking for options in venues for hosting the Indian Premier League 2021 as Mumbai being a single host is not workable due to the surge in COVID-19 cases in and around the city.
"There is still a month left for the IPL to start but obviously some decisions need to be taken. It will be risky to have a single city IPL in Mumbai if there is a steady rise in cases that's happening right now," a senior BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
"So cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Kolkata will be ready to host matches. Ahmedabad, in all likelihood, will host the play-off and final match of the IPL," he said.
Earlier, there were discussions that Mumbai would be a good option to create a single bio-secure bubble and hold the eight-week long tournament as the city consists of four stadiums (Wankhede, Brabourne, DY Patil and Reliance Stadium). However, Maharashtra is seeing a renewed surge in COVID-19 cases and recorded over 8,000 of them on Thursday. The city of Mumbai registered over 1,100 cases on the same day.
The latest edition of the Indian Premier League will kick off in the second week of April. Last year, the cash-rich league had to be shifted to UAE due to a coronavirus pandemic.
(Inputs from PTI)