Reports: IPL 2019 to be played outside India

IPL 2019 to be played outside India: If reports are to be believed, the whole of IPL 2019 will be shifted outside India.

The 12th season of the Indian Premier League is highly likely to be played outside India due to its schedule clashing with the General Elections in the country. It won’t be the first time that such a step would be taken as the entire second season of IPL was played in South Africa and some matches of IPL 2014 were played in UAE due to the same reasons.

If it happens, it would possess an onerous challenge for the organisers of the tournament due to various reasons. The biggest of all problems would be to finalize a foreign venue. With ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 to commence from May 30, IPL would have to be completed before its general time of last week of May.

If reports in Twenty20Wiki are to be believed, the next season of IPL is highly likely to be played in either one out of South Africa or UAE. A reliable source from the BCCI was quoted to them saying, “It could be a difficult situation for players and franchise owners if they’d be asked to play under different conditions within just 2-3 days, say from India to UAE or South Africa. Making adjustment with conditions in such scenario would be tough task for everyone.

“Hence we are working to shift entire IPL 2019 season to another country and South Africa is the front runner due to their prior 2009 experience.”

Giving reasons as to why South Africa has more chances of hosting the extravaganza of cricket, the source said, “There are more number of stadiums in South Africa than UAE and hosting all 60 matches couldn’t be possible for 2-3 venues. This makes Africa front runner to host the next season. Also we’re planing to kick of IPL 2019 in the mid of March so that overseas players can also get to play maximum games. PSL also be hosted in UAE. So there would be less time for grounds men to complete preparations.”

If this plan comes to fruition, all teams would have to consider their strategies yet again because the playing conditions vary to a great extent in South Africa and India. Teams would be eager to know clear information about the next season of the IPL as soon as possible for it would help them in preparing accordingly.

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