BCCI to consider hosting IPL first in India and then overseas
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|| Desk Report ||
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Treasurer Arun Dhumal has said that they will consider hosting the 13th edition of the mega Indian Premier League (IPL) event in India first before looking at the options of staging the tournament abroad.
Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and most recently New Zealand have stepped up with their respective proposals to host the cash-rich tournament IPL, which is the second largest cricketing tournament after ICC World Cups.
In the aspects of the foreign nation’s growing interest to host the upcoming edition of the lucrative T20 meet, Dhumal has made it clear that staging the tournament abroad will be the BCCI’s last resort despite the ongoing corona situation.
“We’ve to consider India first and then think of overseas. They’ve sent these proposals in case we want to organise it there. We’ll discuss it in the next IPL governing council meeting where we’ll take a call,” Arun Dhumal told the news agency.
The IPL has been staged outside of India only twice in its glorious 12-year-long history. Due to the lengthy nationwide general elections, the second edition of the IPL in 2009 was held in South Africa, which the now-defunct Deccan Chargers won by defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final.
Six years later, the first-half of the IPL in 2014 was staged in the UAE across Dubai and Abu Dhabi owing to the same reason.
The BCCI stares at a staggering financial loss of approximately Rs 4,000 crore if it is unable to host the IPL this year. And so, the board is keen to slot the tournament in the October-November window if the T20 World Cup is postponed.
But with the ICC yet to make a decisive call regarding the fate of the ICC tournament, the BCCI seems to be stuck in a limbo for now.
The uncertainty of the T20 World Cup, as Dhumal explains, has caused the board scheduling headaches.
“Everybody is under the pressure because of the uncertainty,” Dhumal added.
