The Indian Cricket Control Board (BCCI) is considering all possible options for holding the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 edition, including their last possibility, which is to stage the league overseas.
The BCCI prefers to host the IPL in India, according to Asian News International (ANI), but if it comes to that, it is willing to consider staging the tournament outside of the country. No decision has been made yet, as ANI reported that the BCCI would wait for some clarity on the T20 World Cup scheduled to be hosted in Australia in October-November later this year. There are considerations that the T20 World Cup will be moved next year in favor of the IPL.
Whatever decision required regarding the IPL 2020 would be taken only after the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting on June 10.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the 13th edition of the IPL set to start on March 29, has been postponed indefinitely. After the coronavirus outbreak, all global sporting activities put to a stop. However, from this month, many football tournaments and cricket tours are expected to start gradually again.
Although nobody from BCCI wants to record, BCCI sources have told that if IPL 2020 moves outside India, then UAE is the best destination possible. According to the source, Covid-19 in UAE is far more regulated, and Emirates Cricket Board has officially provided Dubai as an offshore destination for the IPL 2020. The source further said that the other encouraging factor for BCCI is that the response to the same was great in the past when some matches of IPL 2014 were hosted in UAE.
Previously, the IPL was held twice outside India, hosted by South Africa in 2009, and hosted jointly by India and the UAE in 2014 due to the general elections that took place in those years.
Do you think the IPL can happen in 2020, and how will hosting IPL in UAE affect the league?
