English counties offer to host remaining matches of IPL 2021 in September
According to ESPNcricinfo, the counties hope the games could be played in front of full-house crowds - though this is also a possibility if the IPL takes place in the UAE - with two (or possibly even three) games being played on each day.
A group of English counties have gotten together and written to the England and Wales Cricket Board, requesting it to invite the Board of Control for Cricket in India to conduct the remainder of Indian Premier League 2021 in the United Kingdom, ESPNcricinfo reported.
The report stated that the MCC, Surrey, Warwickshire and Lancashire, who are based at Lord's, The Kia Oval (both London), Edgbaston (Birmingham) and Emirates Old Trafford (Manchester) have offered to host the matches remaining in the season and complete it in two weeks in the second half of September.
The subject is likely to come up at a virtual ICC meeting of the national chief executives scheduled for today.
Apart from simply completing the tournament, the counties point out that it would help top players to high-quality cricket heading into the T20 World Cup and ensure that pitches in the UAE - where the T20 World Cup could be played if it is moved from India - are fresh ahead of the global tournament. It might also broaden the UK market for the IPL.
According to ESPNcricinfo, the counties hope the games could be played in front of full-house crowds - though this is also a possibility if the IPL takes place in the UAE - with two (or possibly even three) games being played on each day.
There would also be no gap between the group stage and knock-out games.
There are, however, numerous obstacles to the plan, ESPNcricinfo understand.
For one thing, it is hard to predict the course of the pandemic, and there is still some time before any decision is made on the T20 World Cup being held in India.
There would also be numerous quarantine issues in bringing players from around the world into the UK, although a number of Indian players being in the UK at the time for their Test series with England could be helpful.
The other more challenging obstacle is the existing schedule.
The England-India Test series only ends in Manchester on September 14, with England then likely to tour both Bangladesh and Pakistan for white-ball matches within the following month - they are due to play the second T20I in Pakistan on October 14.
Most other sides have international commitments around the same time, with potential quarantine time to be factored in - though those final weeks in September remain less busy than most.
In June, the Indian team is slated to tour England for a five-Test series and there is also the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand before that.
With the T20 World Cup scheduled for October and likely to be shifted from India to the UAE, hosting the remainder of IPL 2021 in England could be considered as an option by the BCCI with any other window looking tough as things stand.
The 2021 edition of the IPL was suspended earlier this week due to multiple participants testing positive for Covid-19 inside the bio-bubble.
