IPL 2019: BCCI Might Shift Tourney to South Africa Due to General Elections in India

The political parties are awaiting the dates for the next year’s General Elections in India. However, it is just not the political parties who are eager for the electoral procedure, the Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) in India is also waiting for the announcement of the dates. After the dates will be available, it will make clear whether to shift the Indian Premier League (IPL 2019) to South Africa or not.

The tournament might be shifted like two previous times in 2009 and 2014 due to the general elections in the country. In 2009, the competition was fully shifted to South Africa.

Meanwhile, in 2014, only the first part of the tournament was played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Three sets of plans have been put in place by the Committee of Administrators (CoA).

If the tournament has to be fully moved out of India, then South Africa is the preferred venue. In the case of a partial shift, UAE might come into contention.

Meanwhile, England is also in the line. However, it might be the least preferred due to the huge costs involved in staging the tournament in England.

Given the presence of a massive Indian population and the cost and it’s effectiveness.

Well, the UAE is the preferred choice. But the limited infrastructure in the country is too small for a lucrative tournament like the IPL. There will be three major grounds to hold the competition- in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.

At best UAE might be the preferred option only partially. However, it will be very difficult to accommodate the full 60 matches. If the tournament has to be shifted fully, then South Africa will be the preferred option.

Besides their challenge with the election dates, the BCCI has set some cricketing challenges as well. With the ICC World Cup 2019 slated to be played on May 30, around the time when the cash-rich tournament ends every year.

The planners of BCCI wanted to have advanced it before the dates of the General Elections actually come to the forth. However, only a little changing can be done.

As per the new Future Tours Programme (FTP), the tournament at the best can be advanced by a week or so.

Hence, instead of the first week of April when the IPL 2019 generally starts, the upcoming edition might start from the end of March.