Cricket South Africa interested in playing host to IPL next year

It won’t be the first time for South Africa to host the IPL. The country hosted the second edition of the league in 2009.

The twelfth season of the Indian Premier League is likely to be shifted outside the country due to the general elections. 2019 will also see the cricket World Cup being played in England, beginning on May 30. BCCI is therefore considering an alternative venue to host the Indian Premier League.

This is not the first time when BCCI faced the task of shifting the IPL. The second edition of the IPL also coincided with the General Elections in 2009, and the government refused to commit security for the tournament. BCCI were forced to shift the season to South Africa. And it seems like the African nation is set to host the IPL next year as well.

Thabang Moroe, the Chief Executive of CSA (Cricket South Africa) has shown keen interest in hosting the IPL next year. “If they were to propose to move it to SA‚ the easy answer to give now is yes. We would be interested in hosting the IPL,” said Moroe, as quoted by businesslive.co.za.

“It remains speculation for now until such time that the government of India announces the date for elections. But there is an appetite from them to move it to either SA or Dubai,” the Chief Executive added.

However, Moroe also addressed the concerns regarding workload pressure and exhaustion of pitches if they host the IPL. South Africa will also be hosting the U-19 World Cup in the next two years, with their Domestic T20 Slam also in schedule later this season.

“There are issues of wear and tear as far as our wickets are concerned and [issues regarding] our competitions because we are going to host the U19 World Cup in the next two years. Should we continue with our domestic T20 Slam this year‚ the tournament will also add to the workload on the wickets … and those are all things we must take cognisance [of] before we make a decision,” said Moroe.

The eleventh season of the IPL was a huge success as it saw the return of Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. The Dhoni-led CSK side won the IPL title, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final.