IPL 2021: BCCI Reveals Why It Decided To Shift The Event To The UAE

On Saturday, the BCCI announced that the remaining 31 matches of the IPL 2021 will occur in the UAE in the September-October window, confirming the rumours. The BCCI was left with little choice but to postpone the tournament indefinitely at the beginning of this month since four franchises reported a handful of COVID-19 positive cases. The Indian cricket board has revealed why it chose the UAE to host the competition.

The UAE has already successfully hosted the 2020 edition of the tournament. However, while the last year’s event in the country witnessed a few COVID-19 positive cases before the competition, there was none once it began. The middle-east nation also staged a handful of fixtures in 2014, considering India had election procedures to deal with. The country also remains a backup venue for the T20 World Cup this year if the prevailing COVID-19 situation in India does not improve.

BCCI Secretary Jay Shah explained the decision to move the tournament to UAE, citing rainfall concerns in September-October in India. Shah said that they cannot stage the competition in India when it is raining as the likes of Mumbai and Ahmedabad will experience heavy rainfall at that time, making it zero sense to hold there.

“See we took this decision to conduct IPL in the UAE because it will be monsoon here and it will not be feasible to hold matches here in September and that is why we are taking IPL to the UAE. We are moving IPL to the UAE only due to weather restrictions as we cannot hold IPL here at the time of monsoon. How can we hold IPL in September in Mumbai or Ahmedabad or any other venues at the time of monsoon? It doesn’t make any sense,” Shah told ANI.

The only thing I can say for now is to seek time from ICC and decide accordingly: BCCI Secretary

As for the T20 World Cup, the BCCI revealed they will seek more time from the ICC and decide later. Jay Shah highlighted that they are monitoring the COVID-19 situation presently, hoping it shall improve and, with time, take a call on that issue.

“And as far as the T20 World Cup is concerned, we will seek time from ICC and decide later. As of now, we are in the mind frame of holding tournaments in the safe zone and we will see how the situation is in the upcoming days. The only thing I can say for now is to seek time from ICC and decide accordingly,” he added.

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