London Mayor Sadiq Khan wants to see MS Dhoni playing in London and is keen on bringing the Indian Premier League to London. Khan, who seeks re-election next month for the second term as London mayor, said that he wishes to MS Dhoni performing in the British capital with his team Chennai Super Kings.
IPL 2021 returned to India after a gap of nearly two years. The last edition was played in UAE due to the Covid-19 pandemic in the country. Sadiq Khan also mentioned that seeing only Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Virat Kohli performing in London later this year is heartbreaking.
Indian team is going to play a five-match away Test series against England in August-September 2021. However, since MS Dhoni has already retired from international cricket, he will not be part of the series.
Want MS Dhoni Performing With Chennai Super Kings In London, Says Sadiq Khan
While speaking to news agency The Associated Press, Khan said that it is heartbreaking to see the Indian team performing in London without MS Dhoni. Hence he is working to bring IPL to London.
“The idea of only seeing (Virat) Kohli or (Rohit) Sharma or (Jasprit) Bumrah when the Indian team comes is heartbreaking, I want (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni in London with Chennai. That’s why I am really keen on working with Surrey and others to get IPL to London,” Khan said.
Khan also mentioned that he wants to see London as the sports capital of the world and it would be great to see IPL teams playing in London.
“If, at first, they are friendly matches, exhibitions, so be it. But wouldn’t it be great to have some of these great teams like Rajasthan Royals playing in London? One of the things we have to do is explain to IPL the benefits other sports have got from coming to London. I want us to be the undisputed sports capital of the world,” Khan further said.
Indian Premier League is mostly played in India due to the massive fan following of Indian cricket fans for the T20 league. However, in 2009, the tournament took place in South Africa due to Lok Sabha Elections.
In 2014 too, the first half of the tournament was conducted in UAE due to Lok Sabha Elections. Last year due to COVID-19 restrictions in India, IPL 2020 took place in UAE.
