IPL 2022 rumours: BCCI mulls shifting IPL 15 to South Africa or Sri Lanka; Know the reason!

Mumbai, January 13: The IPL 2022 is set to undergo in the usual April-May window but the rising Covid-19 cases in India have casted a shadow over BCCI’s plans to stage the tournament in India.

Consequently, the BCCI is thinking of penciling in South Africa and Sri Lanka as potential host for IPL 2022 in the same window.

“We can’t be dependent on UAE all the time so we decided to explore more options, South Africa’s time difference also works out well for the players,” a BCCI official told Indian Express.

The official said the BCCI is very pleased with the bio-bubble arrangements put in place by Cricket South Africa for the Indian team for the current Test and ODI series.

“The place where the team was staying for the second Test is spread over several acres.

“There were walking tracks and even a pond on the property and that has made things easier for the players who for the last couple of years or so have been confined to their rooms on several overseas tours,” said an official.

Sri Lanka is also alternate venue the BCCI considering to approach as the number of cases are very low at the moment in the Island nation. The official said timing of both South Africa and Sri Lanka works well for the IPL.

It may be recalled that the IPL was shifted to South Africa in 2009 due to the general elections in India before moving to the UAE in 2014 and 2021 for other reasons such as the pandemic.

However, the BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla had said that the Board will try to conduct the IPL 2022 in India itself.

Shukla had told the news agency ANI on Tuesday: “We will try to ensure that the Indian Premier League happens and in India. But we will see into this matter again in March, that how is Covid situation then.”

But at this stage, all these will come to effect only after the IPL mega auction next month.