IPL 2022: Tournament To Start With CSK v KKR; Dedicated Traffic Lines For Teams To Travel: Reports

IPL 2022 is set to kick off on 26th March with CSK vs KKR; two teams to stay in one five-star hotel.

IPL 2022 is set to kick off from 26th March, and the whole tournament will be held in Maharashtra, where 55 out of the 70 league games will be played in Mumbai. While the full schedule is yet to be revealed, according to the latest reports the opening match of the tournament will be between 4-time champions Chennai Super Kings will face off against two-time IPL winners Kolkata Knight Riders. 

As far as the venues are concerned, a total of four venues will host the IPL. Three of them are in Mumbai - Wankhede Stadium, Brabourne Stadium & DY Patil Stadium. Two stadiums have been dedicated for the teams to train with facilities - Bandra-Kurla complex and Daoji Kondadev Stadium in Thane, and hence teams would need to travel between the practice and match venues by road. 

Mumbai's traffic has always been one of the busiest in India, and so to avoid any heavy traffic while the teams are travelling as BCCI as ensured the creation of dedicated traffic lanes for the teams to travel smoothly. 

"Maharashtra government is going to fully support BCCI to organise a successful IPL. The decision regarding allowing crowds will be decided by Chief Minister Hon'ble Udhav Thackeray" says MCA's governing council Milind Narvekar, quoted by the Indian Express. 

Adding to the different challenges of hosting an IPL, COVID has only made things worse. BCCI would have to look after the accommodation of the teams and with two new teams and only 2 cities to host the IPL, BCCI has decided that 2 teams would stay in a single five-star hotel throughout the tournament.