IPL to come home after first phase of elections

Chennai:The powerful Indian cricket board seems to have convinced the home ministry for conducting the second phase of the Indian Premier League in the country. Based on the responses from various states, the BCCI is confident that the Season 7 can be resumed in India after the first phase concludes at UAE on April 30.

BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said the second phase comprising 40 matches will be played in India after May 1. “We got confirmation from different states to host the matches in seven venues and the Home Ministry also gave its nod. Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Odisha, Cochin, Vizag and Hyderabad are ready to host the matches. We are, however, waiting to hear from Mumbai, Delhi, Punjab and Chennai police. Based on the responses received so far, the BCCI believes that the Season 7 can be conducted in India from the first week of May,” said Patel on the sidelines of IPL Governing Council meeting here.

As the Indian home ministry made it clear that it would not be possible to provide security during the general elections between April 17 and May 12, the IPL organisers had no other choice than finding an alternative venue in UAE. Bangladesh was earmarked as backup for the second phase.

Patel said the schedule for the remaining 40 matches will be announced in due course.

On the other issues taken up during the all-important meeting, Patel said: “Issues regarding venues, contracts, how to go about the tournament, logistics, legal and technical issues and operational issues were discussed with the franchisees.”

As the first phase is scheduled to be held outside India, franchisees could end up losing some revenue. Patel, however, said the revenue sharing modalities are yet to be worked out. “We are awaiting on cost in totality. When these matches were played outside, BCCI takes lots of expenditure we need to work on all those.”