IPL 2021: Mumbai likely to miss out as venue following COVID cases spike
The 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League would be the 14th edition. It would be held in India after being held in the United Arab Emirates last year, while the venues are yet to be finalised. Mumbai Indians is the record five-time defending champion.
FollowThe Indian Premier League 2021 is all set to be held, with the window likely to be between April-May. While the tournament was held in the United Arab Emirates last year, owing to the limitations of hosting it in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it returns to India this term.
Meanwhile, the venues are being finalised, while the schedule for the same is to be prepared in the coming days, as the sides are ready with their squads and are planning on beginning their preparatory camps soon. However, as per recent reports, Mumbai could miss out on hosting the games, owing to a recent spike in the cases of COVID-19 in the city, thus forcing defending champion Mumbai Indians to find a new home.
Earlier, a report from ESPNCricinfo stated that the Board of Control for Cricket in India was contemplating hosting the competition entirely in Mumbai, across three venues (Wankhede, Brabourne and DY Patil). However, the recent spike in the COVID cases could compel BCCI to shift the matches completely outside Maharashtra.
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A new report for the same publication now adds that Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Delhi are the likely venues that have been shortlisted to host the games this season. Considering the schedule, the tournament is expected to begin between April 8-12 and continue until the end of May or early June.
Notably, Jaipur and Mohali have not been included in the list of tentative venues. At the same time, Punjab Kings CEO, Satish Menon, said, "We have written to the IPL asking them to throw light on how they have decided on these venues and why also have they decided not to hold the IPL in Punjab."
According to the latest COVID data issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Maharashtra has 78,212 new cases, of the 1,69,000 new cases nationwide. Tamil Nadu and West Bengal's state is also slated to hold their elections during the league stage. While WB would see the polls being held between March 27-April 19, with the results between May 2-4, TN would host it on April 6, while the results would be declared on May 5.
