Dubai: The UAE’s chances of hosting the first half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) have received a boost with some of the franchise owners reportedly expressing their preference for the venues here. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to take a final decision in this regard on March 5.
South Africa and Bangladesh are the other countries who have offered to co-host the event given the difficulties involved in staging it amid the general elections in India.
Though the BCCI had earlier announced that South Africa is the most preferred venue, a few developments have forced the IPL Governing Council to keep their decision on hold. The BCCI working committee meeting in Bhubaneswar on February 28 was supposed to finalise South Africa as the alternate hosts given the circumstances but decided to delay the announcement. Informed sources reveal that more details on facilities in the UAE, especially with regard to hotel and travel, were sought soon after the Bhubaneswar meeting.
One of the reasons for not confirming South Africa is that the South African general elections to elect a new National Assembly as well as new provincial legislatures in each province are scheduled for May 7. Under the circumstances, authorities there would insist on the entire tournament to be held in the country rather than just the first half since they would be required to make special security arrangements for the IPL.
The UAE and Bangladesh are being favoured due to their shorter distance from India. As travel costs will have to be borne by the franchises, the UAE has emerged as an attractive proposition and the hotel facilities for the teams have also received the seal of approval from some of the franchises. The distance between venues if matches were to be held in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, would also be shorter than in South Africa or Bangladesh.
One of the concerns that is being held against the UAE is the daily gate collection. The BCCI has enquired whether fans will come out to watch the matches even during working days.
The BCCI is also very keen to ensure that the latest edition of the IPL is free of any scandal. The last edition of the IPL was marred by match-fixing allegations and it had affected the brand value of the event — forcing the board to ensure that the venues were safe and well monitored.
While Bangladesh is very much in contention, there is a perception that it may prove too much for the authorities there to handle the logistics of such a big event soon after the Asia Cup and the Twenty20 World Cup.
