BCCI looking to host IPL 2022 in Mumbai and Pune: Ganguly

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly was confident that Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 will be held in India, mostly likely in two cities in Maharashtra, depending on the COVID-19 situation in the country. The tournament is likely to take place between March end and May end featuring ten teams with two new teams from Ahmedabad and Lucknow added to the roster.

"It will be held in India this year, until and unless COVID-19 hits the roof," Ganguly told Sportstar in an interview.

Last edition was halted in May due to a bio-bubble breach inside India and was shifted to the United Arab Emirates in September and October.

"As far as venues are concerned, we are looking at hosting the matches in Maharashtra – Mumbai, and Pune. We will take a call on the venues for the knockout stages later," he added.

Ganguly was confident that the women's franchise tournament will be held this year with future plans to increase the number of teams.

"Yes, of course, they will. The Women’s T20 Challenge will again be back this year in the month of May. Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to host a bigger women’s IPL once the number of women players [player pool] goes up. But this year, the Women’s T20 Challenge will happen during the IPL playoffs," he said.

Ganguly assured that the Board will complete the U-19 four-day tournament Cooch Behar Trophy and women's domestic tournament this year.

"We have time for the Cooch Behar Trophy. Let this COVID settle down a bit, we can hold it because it is just at the knockout stage and only a few matches are pending. We can do it in April-May. Similarly, with the women’s tournament, we will do it as well. We are presuming that in another month, the number of cases will go down and we can host it," he said.

The BCCI chief was not worried about India's limited-overs series against West Indies beginning on Sunday after Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan and Navdeep Saini tested positive for covid.

"I think these things happen (the Indian players testing positive) since the players are coming from different parts. So, there is a possibility that a few might test positive. Once this wave goes through, it should be fine. Once the players [complete the mandatory quarantine] and enter the bubble, there should not be any problem," Ganguly said.

The three-match ODIs between India and West Indies will be played on February 6, 9 and 11 in Ahmedabad before the teams shift base to Kolkata for the three T20Is on February 16,18 and 20.