IPL 2022 to be held in India, says BCCI Secretary Jay Shah; reveals MS Dhoni 'mentor' chat

BCCI Secretary Jay Shah on Saturday announced that the 15th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) will be taking place in India and the mega auction for the same will be held soon. During a celebratory event of the Chennai Super Kings attended by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, MS Dhoni, Kapil Dev, N Srinivasan & others, Jay Shah also lavished praise on the CSK skipper for taking Team India's mentorship role in the recently concluded T20 World Cup. 

"15th season of the IPL will take place in India and it will be more exciting with new teams joining. We have a mega auction coming up to see what the new combination looks like," said Jay Shah during the event. 

IPL 2021 had to be shifted to the UAE after multiple COVID cases were reported in the various franchises' bio-bubble. 

Furthermore, Jay Shah recalled his conversation with MS Dhoni when he approached him for Team India's mentorship for the T20 World Cup 2021. "I told MS, India needs you, India needs your support, your sharp understanding of the game. Then he said yes. He said he will not take a rupee for his service. The moment CSK will play at Chepauk is not very far," said Jay Shah. 

IPL 2022 & mega-auction

For the IPL 2022, two new teams will be coming in -- Ahmedabad and Lucknow. Amid perennial questions about his future, Dhoni after winning IPL 2021 had also said that he still has not left behind his legacy, hinting that he might just play the next season for CSK.

The IPL 2022 retention rules permit the eight existing franchises to be able to retain up to a maximum of four players. Meanwhile, the two new teams can acquire three players from the rest of the player pool ahead of the 2022 auction. However, the official date for the IPL 2022 auctions is yet to be announced.

According to ESPNcricinfo, there are two ways in which existing teams can retain their four players. They can either opt to retain three Indians and one overseas player or two Indians and two overseas players. The three Indians that can be retained can be all capped, uncapped or a combination of both. Once again, it is believed that franchises cannot use their right-to-match cards (RTM) at the auction. The report further states that the two new teams need to pick a combination of two Indian players and one overseas player.

(Image: ANI/iplt20.com/BCCI)