Mumbai might not get hosting rights in the 2021 edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) owing to the spike in Coronavirus cases in Maharashtra.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) were to be deprived of hosting rights thus far but with the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, Mumbai Indians (MI) may not get to play their home games at the Wankhede Stadium as well, ESPNCricinfo reported on Tuesday (March 2).

According to the report, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Delhi have been tentatively allotted as possible venues. A final decision is expected to be taken by the BCCI senior management along with the IPL governing council soon.

During the IPL 2021 auction last month, franchises were informally told that the cash-rich will be largely based in Mumbai along with Pune for the group stage while Ahmedabad will host the play-offs.

However, things changed drastically in the span of two weeks as top BCCI officials at a meeting last week talked about the feasibility of Mumbai as a venue.

According to the data provided on Indian government's website, Maharashtra accounted for almost half of Coronavirus cases in the country right now. Out of 169,000 active cases in India, Maharashtra comprised 78,212 of them.

Earlier, it was reported that Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad have raised objection over BCCI’s decision to take away their hosting rights.

"We have written to the IPL asking them to throw light on how they have decided on these venues and why also have they decided not to hold the IPL in Punjab," Satish Menon, CEO at PBKS, told ESPNCricinfo.

SRH CEO K Shanmugham also confirmed to ESPNCricinfo that he also had checked with the IPL whether Hyderabad was included as a potential venue or not.