The Indian Premier League (IPL) is arguably the biggest T20 league in the world. There are no defined boundaries when it comes to IPL as most of the international cricket boards don’t prefer to schedule a bilateral series amidst IPL. To be precise, it is the audience in India that has made the difference for the cash-rich league. Nonetheless, with India getting ready for 2019 elections, IPL 2019 is expected to be shifted partially or fully out of India.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is eagerly awaiting EC (Election Commission) for the announcement of the dates of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The dates will throw some light on the chances of IPL 2019 being played in India. In the past, IPL has been moved out of India partially or fully on two occasions – 2009 in South Africa and 2014 in UAE (due to elections).
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This time as well it can be either of UAE or South Africa. As per the reports in Mumbai Mirror, England has also been the option in the books of BCCI for conducting the next edition of IPL. These options have been considered by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) and the BCCI management directed by CEO Rahul Johri. IPL COO Hemang Amin is on the cabinet as well to discuss their options.
As per the reports, the chances of IPL moving to England are very slim due to the high-cost factor and less conversion of costs to revenue. Besides, UAE is a feasible option in terms of revenue if they don’t consider moving to South Africa. The reason being that UAE has only three major grounds which makes IPL too bigger a league for three venues.
As a result, South Africa seems to be the most pragmatic option for BCCI if ever IPL 2019 is to be moved out of India. The potential boards (UAE, South Africa, and England) have been informed informally about the options. Moreover, the franchises have also been familiarized with the preferred choices.
