On Sunday, the Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council released the schedule of the 2021 edition of India’s cash-rich top-tier T20 league. BCCI have pinned down selected neutral venues for this year’s tournament, keeping the rise of COVID-19 cases in India. The following decision was taken after months of discussion regarding the format of this year’s IPL.
IPL 2021: Teams unhappy with this year’s schedule
The BCCI decided to hold the games in neutral venues to cease the traveling time of all the eight teams. However, a couple of teams are unhappy with this year’s format and schedule. The spokesperson of a couple of teams has raised the issue that this year’s scheduling of the venues might give an upper hand to few teams.
The report added that a team’s official debated that Delhi Capitals, a team that has plenty of players like Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer and Prithvi Shaw from Mumbai, might have an unfair advantage in the City. Another team argued the same about KXIP’s squad.
“Delhi has players like Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, and skipper Shreyas Iyer who are from Mumbai and the team plays its first three games at the Wankhede. They will have an advantage just as Punjab Kings who have players like KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, and coach Anil Kumble, and they play five games in Bangalore?
“Don’t they have the advantage of being familiar with the conditions at the Chinnaswamy Stadium? The plan can be counter-productive,” a franchise official told Cricbuzz. Another questioned that MS Dhoni, who could be playing his last IPL tournament, has been denied to play in Chennai.
“You are denying MS Dhoni to play his potential last IPL in Chennai. If there are to be no crowds, what stops CSK to play in Chennai and Mumbai Indians to play in Mumbai,” an official asked.
The games are scheduled to be played behind closed doors during the initial stage. The decision to allow spectators will be taken later. Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai will be hosting 10 matches each, while Delhi will host eight matches and Ahmedabad will host 12 games, including the playoffs and the finals.
