While the United Kingdom seems the most likely choice as the venue for the remaining matches of the IPL, BCCI is keeping Sri Lanka as an option too.
The suspension of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has put the finances of the stakeholders broadcaster, organisers, franchises at risk and the remaining matches have to be held for them to be able to recover the investments. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had said that they could lose around INR 2000 crore if the IPL doesn't resume.
Thus, BCCI has been leaving no stone unturned to find a window to host the rest of the 31 games of the 14th edition in a country where the chances of it getting interrupted are minuscule. Now, according to a source in the BCCI, the board is looking to tweak India's five-match series against England in August-September to have enough days to host the matches in the UK.
India will be playing five Test matches against the hosts starting from August 4 in Nottingham and the series will go on till September 16 with the final Test slated to take place at the Old Trafford in Manchester.
After the tournament was suspended due to a rise in the COVID-19 cases in the bio-bubble, a few English counties offered to host the rest of the IPL on their grounds in the September window, since many Indian and all England players will be in the UK and now with their government allowing crowds for sporting events, the franchise could benefit earning from the match tickets even though the UK is a comparatively costlier destination.
“BCCI and the ECB are in discussions to tweak the five-Test series. Details of those discussions aren’t public yet. But in whichever manner the ECB agrees to tweak the Test series, they will want the IPL in England because the counties can earn from it. There’ll be a good chance of a quid pro quo,” the source said in a report in The Times of India.
“Only if costs are escalating to a point where it starts affecting stakeholders, the BCCI will consider the UAE as the second option for the IPL. On that front, we aren’t even discounting the idea of hosting the IPL in Sri Lanka,” the source further added.
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