BCCI considering 4-5 IPL venues; Mumbai a concern amid COVID surge

The BCCI is looking at four to five venues for conducting the next edition of the Indian Premier League with Mumbai as a single host not looking feasible anymore following a surge in COVID-19 cases in and around the city.

Earlier, there were discussions that Mumbai, with four stadiums -- Wankhede, Brabourne, DY Patil and Reliance Stadium, will be a good option to create a single bio-secure bubble and hold the eight-week long tournament.

However,the COVID-19 situation in Maharashtra has worsened with a spike in COVID-19 cases.

"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 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.

The IPL is scheduled to start in the second week of April. The tournament had to be taken to the UAE last year because of the pandemic.

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 1100 cases on the same day.