The 10-team 2022 season of the Indian Premier League is set to get underway in just over a month, on 26 March.
The decision taken made in the IPL's Governing Council meeting on Thursday evening where it was also decided that the entire league stage of the tournament will be played in Maharashtra, with 55 games in Mumbai and 15 in Pune.
Four stadiums have been identified for the league matches, with the break-up of the games being 20 at the Wankhede, 15 at Brabourne Stadium, 20 more at DY Patil Stadium and 15 at Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) ground in Gahunje, in the outskirts of Pune.
According to the BCCI's press release following the meeting, all teams will play 4 matches each at Wankhede Stadium and DY Patil Stadium, and 3 matches each at Brabourne Stadium (CCI) and MCA International Stadium, Pune.
The 10 teams will play a total of 14 league matches (7 home matches and 7 away matches) totalling to 70 league matches, followed by the 4 playoff matches. Each team will play 5 teams twice and the remaining 4 teams only once (2 only home and 2 only away).
The board has also identified four grounds for practice. The teams will be allotted times for practice at the BKC ground in Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, Brabourne Stadium in South Mumbai, DY Patil ground in Navi Mumbai and either MCA Ground in Kandivali or in Thane.
Women's T20 Challenge Set to Return?
The Governing Council also backed the idea of bringing back the Women's T20 Challenge, which last took place in 2020. The format is likely to be the same as in the 2020 edition, in which three teams - Supernovas, Velocity and Trailblazers - played a total of four matches including the final.
The Women's T20 Challenge usually takes place during the IPL's playoffs week. However, no firm decision has yet been taken on whether the women's tournament will take place at a separate venue - as in 2020 - from the IPL play-offs.
The tournament will still have to wait before it expands to become a fully fledged Women's IPL, however, with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly saying recently that the board was at the level of "formulation" to launch it in 2023.
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