Mumbai, Feb 25 : Indian Premier League Governing Council announced that the 2022 IPL tournament will be held in a bio-secure environment and matches will be played across four venues in Mumbai and Pune. The BCCI in a statement said: “The 15th edition of the IPL will be played in a bio-secure environment at a single hub to avoid air travel which is considered as a major threat for the spread of Covid-19 infection, thereby affecting the players and the League/matches. “A total of 70 league matches will be played across four international standard venues in Mumbai and Pune. The venue for the playoff matches will be decided later.” In Mumbai, Wankhede Stadium will host 20 Matches while 15 matches will take place in Brabourne Stadium (CCI) and 20 matches will be played in DY Patil Stadium. Pune’s MCA International Stadium will host 15 Matches. The 10 teams will play 14 league matches each with all of them playing 5 teams twice and 4 teams just once. The two groups were determined by the number of championships won and the number of final appearances. The five-time champions Mumbai Indians is placed in Group A alongside Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants. Meanwhile, the four-time title winner Chennai Super Kings are placed in Group B with Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans. “The team will play twice with the teams in their group and with the team in the same row in the second group. With the rest of the teams in the second group they will play only once during the season,” BCCI said. For instance: In Group A, Mumbai Indians will play 2 matches each against KKR, RR, DC, LSG. MI will also play 2 matches against CSK and 1 match each against other teams in Group B. Similarly, in Group B, RCB will play 2 matches against CSK, SRH, PBKS and GT. RCB will also play 2 matches against RR and 1 match each against other teams in Group A. BAV PN
