No IPL matches in Hyderabad this year. Here's why

Hyderabad: Bringing despair to the cricket lovers in the city, the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) match venues list did not include Hyderabad. The matches are scheduled from 26 March to 29 May in four venues in two cities this year – Wankhede Stadium, Brabourne Stadium (CCI), DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai, and MCA International Stadium in Pune.

Out of the 70 matches this year, 20 matches will be hosted by Wankhede Stadium, 15 matches by Brabourne Stadium, 20 matches by DY Patil Stadium, and 15 matches by MCA International Stadium.

The inaugural match on Saturday, between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, will be held at Wankhede Stadium from 7:30 p.m. The final match is tentatively scheduled to be in Ahmedabad.

Sunil Babu, secretary of the Cricket Association of Telangana (CAT), said the BCCI and the IPL Committee have restricted the venues to two cities this year considering the COVID-19 situation in the country and the concerns regarding a fourth wave.

However, he also said that even if the organisers had planned on including multiple venues, Hyderabad wouldn't have featured in the list. Hyderabad has its own issues, he said. "First, there is no power (electricity) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium at Uppal for the last three months. The electricity in the stadium was cut due to the non-payment of bills of over Rs. 2 crore and the bill has not yet been settled. Moreover, there is nobody to look after the state of the game in the city as the Supreme Court had dispersed Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) three months ago on the grounds of corruption," he explained.

Meanwhile, there are two new entrants in IPL 2022 – Lucknow Supergiants and Gujarat Titans.

Cricket fans can watch the matches live on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 3, and Star Sports 3 HD. Also, IPL 2022 matches will be live-streamed on Disney+ Hotstar, Jio TV, and Airtel TV.