The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega audition is almost here. A total of 590 cricketers will be open when the ten teams will be sitting at the bidding table on February 12 and 13 in Bengaluru. Notably, some teams have already retained some of their preferred players or kept them in draft beforehand.
In IPL 2022, the number of matches played has been increased to 74 from 60 which means the audience will get full-fledged entertainment for more couple of days. Besides, two new teams have been included namely Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans. From this season, the IPL 2022 will be called TATA IPL as the main sponsor will be TATA and not VIVO.
Although no venue for the matches for this upcoming IPL has been decided, in an interview with Sportstar, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly stated that the matches will be held across Maharashtra – Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Pune.
Fans are eagerly waiting for the mega auctions to know which player is going where. This year’s audition will be an interesting one to watch as teams will be rebuilding the foundation. But before that, let us take a look at the new guidelines and rules that BCCI and IPL governing council have laid out for all ten teams:
- The IPL 2022 auction will be taking place in a bio-bubble.
- The officials representing the franchises will have to get themselves tested for Covid-19 and appear with negative RT-PCR reports on February 9, 10, and 11. The testing will be conducted by BCCI-accredited medical agency.
- No Right to Match (RTM) option will be available for the team in this auction.
- Only three players have been retained by the original eight teams whereas two new teams have been allowed to pick two players in the draft ahead of the auction. Therefore, all the teams have to start afresh at the auction.
- The IPL 2022 fund has been raised to Rs 90 crore from Rs 80 crore to accommodate more players, especially from the domestic zones.
- Participants who have returned to India from abroad in the last 15 days have to undergo 7-day mandatory quarantine and test negative on days 8 and 9 (twice).
- BCCI will be keeping a watch on those arriving at the team hotel on February 11. They will be monitored for COVID-19 symptoms.
- Covid-19 testing will be done between 12 AM to 7 AM to ensure smooth conduct of the IPL 2022 auction on February 12 and 13. The members will stay in their rooms until declared negative for the virus.
- All the attendees will have to share full details including COVID vaccination results (if any) with the BCCI medical team.
- All the participants will have to wear masks in the auditorium at the auction table.