IPL 2021 new venue: Will IPL 2021 be conducted in Sri Lanka?

IPL 2021: The 14th season of the Indian Premier League was postponed after positive COVID-19 results earlier this week.

A season of Indian Premier League facing one or more difficulties is by no means a novel development. The cash-rich league has had its share of interruptions over the years due to various reasons.

However, it is for the first time that an IPL season has been aborted at a stage when half the league stage has been played. COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences started to dictate terms to the extent that BCCI had to take a call against continuing the tournament.

In what started with Kolkata Knight Riders pair of Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier testing positive for COVID-19, Sunrisers Hyderabad wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha, Delhi Capitals spinner Amit Mishra and four Chennai Super Kings support staff members had also contacted the virus to send panic signs to all stakeholders of IPL 2021.

Will IPL 2021 be conducted in Sri Lanka?

At this point in time, there have been multiple suggestions with respect to time and venue for completing the season. Considering the monetary loss if IPL 2021 doesn’t resume, the BCCI is almost certain to try everything possible to resume the tournament.

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As far as the venue is concerned, Sri Lanka has emerged as another potential venue where IPL 2021 could be played. It is worth mentioning that Sri Lanka Cricket had proposed to host IPL 2020 to BCCI last year as well.

While SLC is yet to formally write to BCCI for hosting the remainder of IPL 2021, SLC Management Committee Chairperson Arjuna de Silva has expressed an intention of hosting the biggest T20 tournament in the island nation.

“Yes, we can certainly provide a window to host the IPL in the month of September. We hear the UAE [United Arab Emirates] is their one option but Sri Lanka can not be ignored for all reasons. We are planning to host the Lanka Premier League [LPL] in July-August and the grounds and other infrastructure will be ready for the IPL in September,” de Silva was quoted as saying by CricWire recently.

In addition to hosting England and Bangladesh for bilateral series in bio-secure bubbles, Sri Lanka Cricket had also successfully hosted the maiden season of Lanka Premier League last year.