If reports are to believed, the Board of Control for India (BCCI) is planning to host the entirety of the 2022 Indian Premier league (IPL) in Maharashtra keeping in mind the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Due to the rapid rise of coronavirus cases in the nation, the world’s richest cricket board is looking to implement Plan B for the smooth running of the upcoming IPL edition.

In the last two years, the BCCI faced challenges in hosting the T20 league. Even as the entire IPL 2020 took place in the United Arab Emirates, the 2021 season had to be shifted out of India because of the emergence of COVID-19 cases in the team camps.

Going by reports, the BCCI is planning to host the upcoming IPL season at four venues – the Wankhede Stadium, the Brabourne Stadium, the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Gahunje, near Pune.

“On January 5, Hemang Amin (BCCI’s interim CEO and the Chief Operating Officer of the IPL) approached Vijay Patil (Mumbai Cricket Association president) in this regard, on the sidelines of the MCA’s Apex Council meeting. Subsequently, a few days later, Amin and Patil met Sharad Pawar at the NCP supremo’s residence,” sources told.

Marnus Labuschagne was recently questioned on social media about the best Indian batter and bowler he had faced so far and he had no doubts about picking Virat Kohli and R Ashwin as his answer. The right-hander is currently playing a massive role for the Australian side in the ongoing Ashes Test series and his numbers in the format have been amazingly good.

The 2019-2020 home series was the first challenge for Labuschagne against the Indian Test side and he straightaway proved to be one of the vital cogs in the Aussie batting lineup. Kohli could play just the one Test in the series after returning home for his child’s birth while Ashwin played the first three Tests. India scripted a historic 2-1 series victory under the captaincy of Ajin.