IPL 2022 | Each venue set to have five pitches to avoid scuffed surfaces

The Indian Premier League is going to commence from the 26th of this month with the finalists of the previous season CSK and KKR scheduled to face each other in the opening clash. As it’s previously declared, all the league stage games will be played across four venues in Maharashtra. 

There always remains a chance of the pitches getting worn out if they are used repeatedly. The same issue hampered the experience of the viewers last year when we witnessed a string of low scoring games because of scuffed surfaces of the United Arab Emirates. 

But this time, the four venues of Maharashtra - The Wankhede stadium, the Brabourne Stadium, the DY Patil Stadium and the MCA Stadium - are set to have five different surfaces available for the IPL 2022. This will enable proper rotation of pitches throughout the tournament and help the tournament provide excitement to cricket fans across the world. 

The groundsman in-charge Nadim Memon has stated that each of these venues has five pitches, which will ensure the proper rotation of the tracks as the tournament progresses and therefore, the balance between bat and ball will be maintained. 

He has insisted on the fact that the surfaces in Mumbai and Pune are much different from those in UAE and so, he is confident in the mentioned venues to host the mega event successfully. 

“Each venue has five pitches. This will ensure that the pitches are rotated”, Nadim said. 

“If you see the wickets in the current Australia-Pakistan series, they’re as flat as they are in the UAE. However, the wickets in Mumbai and Pune will offer exciting cricket. All the grounds are in good shape. We staged 10 IPL matches last year without any hitches. We’ll stage it successfully this time too”, he further added. 

Nadim seems to be logical as the pitches in Maharashtra having red soil have something for everyone. There will be some movement early on, but there will even bounce and nice pace on the wicket as well, so, the batters will enjoy batting in the middle once they survive the first few overs. Further, as the pitches are set to be rotated, the league stage matches are expected to offer some nail-biting encounters. 

Added to this, Nadim abolished the possibilities of the dew factor benefitting the team batting second in Mumbai by saying that it can be taken care of using the super-sopper. 

“The dew factor in Mumbai isn’t as big as it is in the UAE or north India. The dew only kicks in post 9.30 pm here, and it can be taken care of by the super-sopper. The second thing is that the clay on the UAE wickets is imported from Pakistan, which means the bounce isn’t great, neither does the ball turn much”, the experienced curator said. 

A total of 70 group stage games will be played in Maharashtra across these four venues. In IPL 2021, the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai hosted 10 games in the first leg, in which the average total was 170.5, which sums up the brilliance of those tracks.