Maharashtra: In the 15th season of IPL 2022, which is going to be held from March 26, more than 25 percent of the audience can be entered at the venues. Though initial permission from the state government is only for one-fourth the size of the stadium, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is confident that more spectators will be allowed to enter the stadium as the league goes ahead. A BCCI official told Cricbuzz on Monday that it is beyond our understanding. Going forward, stadiums will have more spectators than in the early games. With Corona cases decreasing day by day, we are expecting more spectators to be in the stadium.
According to preliminary estimates, Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium will have 9800 to 10 thousand spectators, while the neighboring Brabourne Stadium, which has a capacity of about 28 thousand, will have seven to eight thousand spectators. While the DY Patil Stadium in Nerul, which is bigger in size, will allow 11,000 to 12,000 spectators, and the Maharashtra Cricket Stadium in Pune will initially allow 12,000 spectators. The BCCI is very excited with the spectators back at the venues.
The Board has expressed satisfaction over the audience attendance for the recent international matches against West Indies and Sri Lanka in Kolkata, Dharamsala, Mohali and Bengaluru. In a letter to the state cricket associations, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said, “The Indian team has put up a stellar performance with a clean sweep in the home series, first against the West Indies and now the Sri Lankan team. The stands were full in the Pink Ball Test match in Bengaluru and the Rohit Sharma-led side outperformed the opponents in all three departments.