IPL 2021 in Mumbai: Dark clouds over Mumbai as IPL venue once again

IPL 2021 in Mumbai: Dark Clouds over Mumbai as IPL Venue remains? IPL 2021 in Mumbai is still questionable. The district of Thane which is adjacent to Mumbai has gone under lockdown due to a fresh COVID-19 surge. Thane’s Municipal Commissioner imposed a complete lockdown in the city on Tuesday till March 31 after 16 hotspot areas were marked. IPL 2021 Schedule was released on Sunday and Mumbai was named as one of the IPL venue.

IPL 2021 in Mumbai is still under a scanner, will BCCI have to do a rethink?

The development raises red flags for Mumbai as IPL 2021 host. Mumbai as per the IPL 2021 Schedule is due to host 10 matches in the 14th edition.

BCCI on Sunday announced six cities that will host this year’s Indian Premier League. However, out of the six locations — Kolkata, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai, and Delhi — Mumbai is the worst hit by the second of COVID-19.

Home to four-times IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI), the city has seen a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases recently. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has been reporting a significant rise in the number of new COVID-19 cases being reported on a daily basis. Having flattened the curve of COVID-19 cases by January-February, the state has also witnessed a sharp rise in infections over the last three-four weeks. Maharashtra reported 8,744 fresh cases in the last 24 hours.

With the rise in the case and Thane, and other Maharashtra cities like Nashik and going into lockdown, BCCI has come under a lot of pressure, whether they should change the venue or not.

However, IPL Governing Council’s Chairman Brijesh Patel believes, that things will improve before the upcoming season. “The decision to make Mumbai as an IPL venue was difficult. But we believe things will improve,” he told InsideSport.co

Notably, BCCI is also keeping a close watch on the situation and will have to pick a new venue if the situation gets worsened. “We are keeping our options open (to opt for a replacement venue in case the situation go out of hands),” Patel added.

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IPL 2021 in Mumbai: Headache for Punjab Kings (PKBS) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) too

Both Punjab Kings (PKBS) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will begin their training camp in the coming days. Both the teams will play their opening IPL game in Mumbai and hence were planning to keep their training base close to the venue.

“Since it will be a long stay in a particular city, it’s prudent if we hold our camp near the venue of our initial matches. There is no point in camping in Mohali if our matches in Mumbai. We will be camping in the city or near-about to acclimatize with the conditions,” PKBS CEO Satish Menon told InsideSport.

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CSK, on the other hand, have started their training camp in Chennai but were planning to shift the base. “Yes, certainly we will think about the possibility of shifting our camp,” he said.

However, the two IPL franchise will have to reconsider their decisions, keeping the current situation in mind.

As for BCCI, they will discuss the new IPL venue in the next Governing Council.

Cricket