ECB and BCCI deny report of IPL being shifted to UAE
Shah statement came ater the Election Commission announced the dates for the polls. The election will be held in seven phases between April 19 to June 1, 2024
The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) denied the reports that the second phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is likely to be shited to the UAE in the wake of general election in the country.
Meanwhile, ater the denial came from ECB in the morning, BCCI also confirmed that the full edition of the IPL will be played in India. BCCI General Secretary Jay Shah was quoted as saying: “No, it will not be moved out of India.”
Shah statement came ater the Election Commission announced the dates for the polls. The election will be held in seven phases between April 19 to June 1, 2024. IPL chairman Arun Dhumal also denied the report of IPL moving out of India on Saturday evening.
Earlier, the report was swirling in a section of the Indian media that the BCCI was exploring the possibility of the staging the second phase of the IPL in the UAE due to the fear of the clash of dates with the election.
The reports claimed that a few top-notch BCCI officials are in Dubai, pondering the option of shiting the richest cricket league of the world to the UAE.
The speculations were prompted by the fact that the BCCI announced the fixture only for the first 21 matches of the IPL. What fuelled it further is that a BCCI official told a leading Indian newspaper on the condition of anonymity that they are weighing the options.
Times of India quoted the source in BCCI as saying “The election Commission of India will announce the election schedule on Saturday. Ater that, the BCCI will decide whether IPL matches should be moved to Dubai. Currently, a few top BCCI officials are in Dubai to explore the possibility of organizing second half of the IPL in Dubai.”
A source close to the development of the mater in the ECB allegedly denied any such reports. “We have been together since morning today ater the ICC meeting and there was no such interest shown by the BCCI officials,” said the source.
“They are here to atend an ICC meeting. But they even did not broach this topic with us, nor did we offer them,” he added.
“IPL is an Indian tournament and it has more charm and appeal when it is played there. India is huge country and they have a very strong infrastructure with a lot of cricket stadiums to hold such tournaments,” he added.
The 17th edition of the IPL will get under way from March 22, 2024 with defending champions Chennai Kings taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening match.
The IPL has been shited out of India on many occasion previously, thrice to the UAE and once to South Africa. IPL being staged outside India is not a new notion. In 2009, the cricket razzmatazz was relocated to South Africa due to the elections.
In 2014, BCCI staged the first phase of the cricketing spectacle in UAE as over a billion people exercised their right to franchise to form a new government.
In 2020, the BCCI was forced to shit IPL to the UAE, where it was held behind the closed doors due to COVID-19. The virus had brought the whole world on its knees. All the sporting activities across the globe, were either cancelled or postponed indefinitely.
At that time, the UAE was the only country, which hosted the world-class events like IPL and MMA successfully. The following year, in 2021 again, the oldest cricket and the biggest cricket league was forced to be staged in the UAE.
India was one of the countries, who were worst hit by coronavirus. Ater the half-stage, IPL was forced to be shited to the UAE, where it was not played behind the closed doors.
The only requirement for the fans and media was to give PCR negative report. With the past experience, whenever, there is a collision of dtaes or any other reason, the UAE is the first name that pops up in the minds of fans and media for hosting the IPL.
A total of 10 teams will participate in IPL 2024. Each team plays the other nine in a round-robin home and away format with the top four qualifying for the play-off. The top two teams in the league will compete in the Qualifier 1 and the winner will make it to the final. The third and fourth-placed teams will compete in an Eliminator. The winner of the eliminator will compete against the team who lost the Qualifier 1 in a Qualifier 2. The winner of Qualifier 2 will then make it to the final.