The BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly has confirmed that the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be returning to its original home and away format from the upcoming season. Ever since Covid played spoilsport, IPL has been held at only a few venues as the matches were played behind closed doors across three venues in UAE which are Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi.
In the IPL 2021, the matches were played across four venues — Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, and Chennai. With Covid cases under control now, the cash-rich league will return to its original format in which every team will play one home and one away match.
The BCCI again conducted the 2022 edition in the UAE because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The next season of men’s IPL will also go back to the home and away format with all ten teams playing their home matches at their designated venues,” stated the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.
For the first time since Covid, the BCCI is also organising a full-fledged domestic season and all multi-day tournaments will also return to the old format.
The BCCI is also planning to conduct the inaugural edition of the Women’s IPL early next year.
“The BCCI is currently working on the much-awaited Women’s IPL. We are expecting to start the first season early next year,” Ganguly quoted on September 20.
The Women’s IPL will bolster the standard of women’s cricket in India. Apart from the Women’s IPL, the BCCI is also launching girls' under-15 ODI tournaments.
The BCCI chief said, “We are glad to introduce a girls U15 One Day tournament from this season. Women’s cricket has seen phenomenal growth across the world and our national team has been performing well. This new tournament will create a pathway for our young girls to play at the national and international level”.