Former England spinner Monty Panesar isn’t in favour of the remaining Indian Premier League 2021 to take place in England. He feels the rain can play a spoilsport for the remainder of the games, which has 31 games left in the season.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended the IPL 2021 on May 4 after several players were found Covid-19 positive while being inside the bio-bubble. The board chief Sourav Ganguly has already cleared that the remaining season won’t be taking part in India. Hence, alternative venues are being considered to complete the season.
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Sri Lanka, UAE and England are being seen as potential venues for the remainder of the season, where England is the frontrunner at the moment to host these matches. However, Panesar is not in favour of the remaining IPL matches being held in England keeping the rain in mind. Last year, UAE successfully hosted the entire IPL 2020 behind closed doors.
“IPL shouldn’t be held in England in September because it will rain a lot there. Too many intervals will spoil the fun. If India is not able to control the pandemic, it should be held in UAE because weather conditions play a huge factor. When it rains in England, it plays spoilsport. You will see an important T20 match get reduced to 15 overs and then 10 overs. We don’t want that to happen with IPL because the brand will take a hit,” Monty Panesar told Sports Yaari, a Youtube channel.
He urged the authorities to take weather condition into account while deciding the venue for the IPL 2021.
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“IPL’s brand is about completed games which are very exciting. 15th to 20th over are high scoring and the most exciting, it won’t be fun [if it rains and overs are reduced]. Authorities should take weather into account while deciding fixtures. The weather in UAE is great,” the former left-arm spinner added.
The IPL 2021 has 31 games left to be played. Before the tournament got suspended, Delhi Capitals were topping the points table followed by Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
