UAE cricket board had offered to conduct the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is keen to explore all its options before zeroing in on how, where, and when the 13th edition will be held. Top sources have confirmed to timesnownews.com that BCCI is not averse to shifting it to UAE.
“We (BCCI) had been offered by the UAE cricket board to host the IPL and there is nothing wrong in exploring the options in front of us but nothing is confirmed. Sri Lanka has also offered to host the IPL. All of this will be discussed in the IPL governing council meeting, which will be held soon,” said a source in the know of things.
The BCCI contracted cricketers have been training at home since March 2020, when the lockdown was announced in the country. The board wants to conduct a camp for the cricketers but the situation is not in their favour. Sources confirmed, BCCI is currently adopting the wait and watch policy as cases are increasing in the country and will take any call on camp for the cricketers only after consultations with stakeholders.
As reported by Times Now in the first week of June, BCCI would be willing to shift IPL outside India to UAE. With no end in sight for the pandemic situation in India, visible through the alarming rise in cases, this could be a real possibility. The window to conduct IPL, however, remains same. September, 2020-November, 2020, once ICC announces its decision on the postponement of T20 World Cup slated for October, 2020 in Australia.
The mega cash rich league is nothing short of a festival in a country like India. In a year of uncertainties, playing the IPL may just provide people some relief.
