The 15th season of the Indian Premier League could well see more than 25 per cent turnout of spectators in the four stadiums across Maharashtra.
The upcoming season of the lucrative T20 league will take place across three stadiums in Mumbai- Wankhede, Dr D.Y Patil & Brabourne - and the MCA stadium in Pune between March 26 - May 29.
Although the state government has only allowed crowds 1/4th of the total ground capacity, the Indian board is confident that more fans will be allowed to throng into the stadiums as the season progresses.
"That is our understanding. Going forward the stadiums will have more fans than initial games. With Covid cases coming down by the day, we are hoping more people will be in the stands." a BCCI office-bearer was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
This will be the first time since the onset of the pandemic that Indian fans will be able to witness the T20 league from the stadium.
Recently, the home series against the West Indies and Sri Lanka saw fans witness the action in Kolkata, Dharamsala, Mohali and Bangalore.
"Team India have just wrapped up an amazing home run with a clean sweep, first over the West Indies and now against the Sri Lankan team. The pink-ball Test in Bengaluru witnessed a full house and the team led by Mr Rohit Sharma outperformed the opponents in all three departments," said BCCI secretary Jay Shah in a letter to the state associations.
Shah also expressed his excitement at the inclusion of two new franchises in the form of Lucknow Supergiants and the Gujarat Titans, stating that the world-class venues in Lucknow and Ahmedabad deserved a team of their own.
The BCCI secretary also expressed his excitement at the prospect of fans returning to the stadiums to witness the world's biggest T20 league for the first time since 2019.
He also invited the president and state secretaries for the state units for the opening game of the 15th season. The inaugural game will take place between last year's finalists- Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders- at the Wankhede Stadium.
According to an estimate, the iconic Wankhede Stadium will have close to 10,000 fans while the Brabourne and DY Patil Stadium in Nerul are likely to play host to 7-8,000 and 11-12,000 fans respectively.
The MCA Stadium is likely to have close to 12000 people.