Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey
The Governing Council (GC) of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is considering options to host the tournament overseas later this year as Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and New Zealand have offered to host it, a BCCI official was quoted saying by the PTI.
“Staging the event in India has to be the first choice. But, in case it is not safe to have it, then we will look at the overseas options. UAE, Sri Lanka and New Zealand have also offered to host the IPL,” a senior BCCI official said.
Earlier this year, the IPL was postponed due to the widespread of the coronavirus pandemic in India. The tournament can be held during the late September-November window as the ICC T20 World Cup is all set to be postponed till 2022.
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Among the three countries, Sri Lanka is the most feasible option financially, and with the timings. New Zealand is the safest, considering the pandemic situation with 0 Covid-19 cases in the country but with a 7 and a half hour time difference it is unlikely that it will be played down under. However, UAE will be the most likely option considering that the IPL was previously hosted in the country back in 2014. The timings will not be an issue in case the tournament is hosted in the middle-east.

The Indian Premier League has been played overseas a couple of times. In 2009, the entire tournament was shifted to South Africa owing to the 2009 general elections, while in 2014, the first half was shifted to UAE due to 2014 general elections.
“We will sit down with all stakeholders (broadcaster, teams, etc) and take a call. The safety of the players is paramount. There will be no compromise on that,” the official said.
The IPL GC meeting date will be declared soon. The issue of the Chinese title sponsors is also due to be discussed by the council.
Written by Sarthak Karkhanis. Follow Sarthak on Twitter today.
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