Jay Shah denies IPL 2024 relocation to UAE amid speculation storm

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah has come forward to end all the speculations related to the second half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 being held outside India.

Last month, the schedule of the first half of the IPL 2024 was announced by the BCCI. The competition is set to commence on March 22 with the battle between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the last of the 21 matches of the first half will be held on April 7 between the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT).

Reports emerged on Saturday, March 16, that claimed that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is planning to stage the second half of the Indian Premier League 2024 outside India.

The reason mentioned behind the move was the clash of the marquee T20 league with the General Elections in India. Reportedly, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was on BCCI’s radar as an alternate to host the IPL 2024. Notably, the UAE had previously hosted the IPL on several occasions. Also, there were reports that the franchises have already started collecting the passports of their players.

Meanwhile, the BCCI secretary Jay Shah has now broken his silence on the matter. He has revealed that the entire league will be held in India and they have no plans to shift the league abroad. “No, it won’t be moved overseas,” Shah told Cricbuzz on Saturday (March 16).

The BCCI will soon be revealing the complete schedule of IPL 2024 as the Election Commission of India has announced the dates for the general elections, which will take place in seven phases from April 19 to June 4.

Shreyas Iyer To Join KKR For IPL 2024 Soon

As per Cricbuzz, star batsman and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) departed for Kolkata on Saturday. Iyer was recently in the news for all the wrong reasons as he was removed from the BCCI central contracts after he ignored the BCCI’s directives to take part in the Ranji Trophy.

He was dropped from the Indian Test team in the middle of the series against England due to his poor performance with the bat for an extended period of time. The BCCI wanted Iyer to take part in the Ranji Trophy after getting dropped, but he didn’t do it and said he was facing back issues despite being declared fit by NCA.

Iyer later featured in the Ranji Trophy final and even played a stellar knock of 95 runs in the second innings after getting out for 7 in the first innings against Vidarbha. He played a key role in Mumbai winning their 42nd title in the Ranji Trophy history.

Notably, he was absent from the field on the last two days of the Ranji Trophy final due to back issues. This led to the rumors of him missing the IPL 2024 matches. However, he seems to be normal at the moment and has no issues with his back, as per Cricbuzz.

Iyer will be leading KKR in IPL 2024 and they will be seen in action against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their first match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 23.