The upcoming general elections will not force the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to move its cash cow, the Indian Premier League (IPL), out of the country. (More Cricket News)
Arun Dhumal, the IPL chairman, on Saturday dismissed speculation that the world's premier T20 cricket league would be shifted to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to the Lok Sabha elections.
The BCCI has already released the schedule for the first two weeks of the IPL 2024. Mahendra Singh Dhoni's defending champions Chennai Super Kings will host the Faf du Plessis-led Royal Challengers Bangalore at the iconic Chepauk on March 22.
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Speculations were rife, understandably so due to the BCCI's delaying tactics, that the 17th edition of IPL would be shifted to the UAE due to the elections, so much so that reports of players being asked to deposit their passports with respective franchises dominated the social media discourse.
"The IPL is not being shifted anywhere. We will soon announce the remaining fixture," Dhumal told news agency PTI soon after the Election Commission of India announced the dates.
It's pertinent to mention that Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary, had maintained that the full IPL season will be held in India, just like it happened in 2019, the year of the previous Lok Sabha election.
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And as it turned out, the BCCI was only waiting for the Election Commission to announce the poll dates. India's general elections, the world's biggest, will be held in seven phases.
The Indian Premier League was however shifted out of the country during the general elections in 2014. Then the first phase was held in the UAE before returning to India for the second phase. Before that, in 2019, the entire IPL was held in South Africa.
