The groundwork to ensure that the Indian Premier League (IPL) returns to UAE next year should commence right away.
The tournament turned out to be one of the biggest sporting extravaganzas to be staged by the UAE in recent times. It showcased not only the UAE’s top cricket facilities but also the whole nation’s capabilities, its security, world-class hotels and other facilities required to host a top sporting event.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), support staff and the players who played in the IPL here have all lauded UAE’s facilities. It is now up to the UAE to make sure that this was not just a one-off event. The argument that IPL is an Indian tournament and should be held in India can be easily modified since the majority of crowds who watched the matches here were Indians, and expatriate Indians too should be given the opportunity to watch the event live.
Though the IPL management says it will remain an eight-team event till 2017, it needs to be explored whether it would be possible in the future to field a new team representing Indian expatriates in UAE or whether it would be possible to buy shares in the existing teams. Some IPL teams are likely to offload some of their shares and look for additional investors, thereby opening the possibility of UAE residents becoming stakeholders and it could become the ‘home’ venue for a team.
This will also project UAE to a large audience and players here could get an opportunity to train with top stars.
Like Kevin Pietersen, who has decided to launch a cricket academy in Dubai, many more top stars may be attracted to serving budding cricketers from this country. It is understood that India’s former star batsman V V S Laxman has also shown interest in starting an academy here.
Right now, the BCCI is so impressed with UAE’s hosting ability that they are even willing to host the Champions League T20 here. All these have been possible mainly due to the cricket fans here who have shown that they are enthusiastic as well as knowledgeable about the game.
The IPL should be used to strengthen UAE’s cricket ties with India and push for Team India to play either a series against Pakistan or in a three- or four-nation tournament here.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) and Asian Cricket Council (ACC), who have witnessed an incident-free IPL here, should recommend the UAE for events like the Champions Trophy, Asia Cup and Twenty20 World Cup in the future.
The UAE should not wait for another election in India for the IPL to held here, but strive to make it happen regularly.
