Women's T20 Challenge from May 23; Kolkata, Ahmedabad confirmed as IPL playoff venues

The IPL 2022 playoffs - one eliminator, two qualifiers and the final - will be held in Kolkata and Ahmedabad between May 24 and May 29, the BCCI confirmed on Tuesday. As reported by ESPNcricinfo earlier, the first two of those matches will be hosted at Kolkata's Eden Gardens, and the rest at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The BCCI has also confirmed that the Women's T20 Challenge will be held at Pune's MCA Stadium between May 23 to May 28.

The three group games of the three-team Women's T20 Challenge, between Trailblazers, Velocity and Supernovas, will be held on May 23, 24 and 26, with the final on May 28. Supernovas won the trophy the first two years, while Trailblazers won the tournament in 2020. The tournament was first held in 2018, in Mumbai, and was played in Jaipur and Sharjah respectively the following years. However, the tournament was cancelled last season because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It was also confirmed that the IPL playoffs will be held in front of capacity crowds for the first time since the 2019 edition. The IPL governing council had initially allowed a 25% capacity, which was increased to 50% later on.

All the IPL 2022 league-stage games had previously been scheduled only in the state of Maharashtra, at the Wankhede and Brabourne stadiums in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium, and the MCA Stadium in Pune, with the BCCI being cautious owing to the pandemic situation. However, with the situation better in India now, the board has decided to branch out to other cities for the playoffs and final.