IPL to return to its old home and away format in 2023, confirms Sourav Ganguly
New Delhi, Sep 22: The Indian Premier League (IPL) will return to its original, pre-COVID-19 home-and-away format from the 2023 season, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has conveyed to the board's affiliated state units.
The IPL has been held at only a few venues since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 as the lucrative league unfolded behind close doors across three venues in UAE -- Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
In 2021 too, the tournament was held across four venues -- Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Chennai.
However, with the pandemic under control, the cash-rich league will return to its old format in which each team plays one home and one away match.
"The next season of men's IPL will also go back to the home and away format with all ten teams playing their home matches at their designated venues," read a Ganguly's note to state units.
The note gave them a "snapshot" of the ongoing domestic season.
The BCCI is conducting a full-fledged domestic season for the first time since 2020 and all multi-day tournaments will also return to the traditional home and away format.
BCCI AGM on October 18
The board has confirmed its AGM (Annual General Meeting) will be held on October 18. According to a notification sent by BCCI secretary Jay Shah, the AGM will be held in Mumbai.
Women's IPL is one of the important items on the agenda circulated to the state associations on Thursday evening.
Also on the agenda are election to the office-bearers: president, vice-president, secretary, joint secretary and treasurer.
Expecting Women's IPL to to start early next year
The BCCI is also working to host the inaugural edition of the much-anticipated Women's IPL early next year.
PTI had last month reported that the tournament is likely to take place in March after the Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa.
"The BCCI is currently working on the much-awaited Women's IPL. We are expecting to start the first season early next year," Ganguly wrote in the letter dated September 20.
The Women's IPL is expected to raise the standard of women's cricket in India.
Besides the the Women's IPL, the BCCI is also launching a girls under-15 ODI tournament.
"We are glad to introduce a girls U15 One Day tournament from this season. Women's cricket has seen phenomenal growth across the world and our national team has been performing well. This new tournament will create a pathway for our young girls to play at the national and international level," Ganguly wrote.
The inaugural women's under-15 event will be played from December 26 to January 12 across five venues -- Bangalore, Ranchi, Rajkot, Indore, Raipur, Pune.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
