Why franchises do not want Indian T20 League to be played in Mumbai?
Mumbai Indians (Image Credit : TWITTER)
The Indian T20 League team owners are unhappy with the tournament to be hosted in Mumbai. On February 23, a report suggested that the league games of the upcoming season will be played in Maharashtra. Four venues across the state have been chosen i.e Wankhede Stadium, Brabourne Stadium, D.Y. Patil Stadium, and Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
With Wankhede being picked as the potential venue, the franchises have said that the Mumbai team will get a home advantage which is unfair on the other teams. Last year, the Board For Control Of Cricket In India (BCCI) staged the cash-rich league in different venues to ensure teams played at neutral venues. The move was criticized after the COVID19 cases in different teams led to the suspension of the tournament. It was believed that the COVID19 outbreak was due to traveling to different cities.
“None of the other teams are getting home matches. It will be unfair if MI play a lot of their matches at Wankhede, which has been their den for years. The franchises have raised this concern. The franchisees don’t have an issue with Mumbai Indians playing the bulk of their matches at DY Patil stadium and in Pune. Even the Brabourne stadium is fine. Hopefully, the BCCI will look into the matter,” a franchise source was quoted saying
On the other hand, a BCCI official has reportedly said that the board doesn’t want to take any chances this year thus staging the tournament in lesser venues will be beneficial. “Air travel of so many teams is the biggest threat of an outbreak. BCCI doesn’t really want to take chances. The first objective is to complete the league in time in India. No one can predict when another wave may start,” a BCCI official was said quoting in TOI report.
