England counties offer to host remainder of IPL 2021 in September

What will happen in the Indian Premier League 2021? BCCI is facing massive losses as a result of the suspension of the 14th edition of the league. Although the board intends to organise the league this year, the logistics will be difficult given the pandemic. The option of hosting the IPL Phase 2 outside of India is being considered.

In September of this year, a group of English counties has offered to host the remainder of the IPL 2021 season.

Aside from simply finishing the tournament, the counties argue that it would help top players prepare for the T20 World Cup and ensure that pitches in the UAE  are fresh ahead of the global tournament. It may also broaden the IPL’s UK market.

The BCCI did not discuss the England option during its meeting on Tuesday, the day the IPL was postponed and it is unclear whether it has been considered since.

The counties, however,  hope that the games will be played in front of sold-out crowds, which is also a possibility if the IPL is held in the UAE. The only problem in the UAE plan is the weather which will be quite hot in September. Hence, the option of having the remaining 31 matches in England makes more sense.

However, there are numerous roadblocks to this plan. For one thing, predicting the path of the pandemic is difficult. There would also be numerous quarantine issues if players from all over the world were brought into the UK.  The existing schedule is another more difficult impediment. The England-India Test series concludes on September 14 in Manchester, with England expected to travel to Pakistan for T20Is less than a month later.

The counties hope, however, that with some flexibility a window can be found to accommodate the tournament in England.

England counties offer to host remainder of IPL 2021 in September https://t.co/Nm98Dlyzxy

— George Dobell (@GeorgeDobell1) May 6, 2021