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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Asked if I was gay, hit on head when I didn't respond: B'luru man assaulted in restaurant washroom
Bengaluru: A 23-year-old executive from a private company was allegedly assaulted by an individual at a restaurant in Bengaluru’s Ashoknagar following a minor disagreement.
The man, a resident of Cox Town, alleged that he was assaulted by an unknown person in the restaurant's washroom around 11:00 PM last week, as reported by Deccan Herald on Saturday.
He visited the restaurant with two friends and went to the washroom after the meal.
The man told the police that an unknown individual asked him if he was gay, but he chose not to respond, as mentioned by DH. “He kept asking me. He asked me again when I was heading out and hit me on my head when I didn’t answer,” the man said.
His friend contacted the police helpline, but by the time they arrived, the suspect had already fled, as per the FIR filed with the Cubbon Park police.
The police are currently searching for the individual responsible for the alleged assault. An FIR has been lodged under BNS sections 126(2) (wrongful restraint) and 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt).
