The IPL 2024 might face considerable challenges due to the tight ICC T20 World Cup 2024 and the Lok Sabha Elections in India. Due to those two reasons, there is a possibility that the tournament might be shifted to another country. It is not the first time that the Indian Premier League IPL and Election have conflicting dates. Before that as well, the IPL was moved to a different nation in 2009 and 2014. Today, we will talk about the 3 countries which might host IPL 2024 due to Lok Sabha Elections and T20 WC.
3 Countries That Can Host IPL 2024
(1) United Arab Emirates (UAE)
UAE has always been one of the first options for the BCCI if IPL has to move out of India. We have seen UAE hosting the IPL a few times now in the last 10 years.
A few games of IPL 2014 happened in UAE due to the general election
UAE has hosted the first half of the IPL 2014 due to the same reason. And UAE hosted the first 20 games of the season. The rest of the tournament happened in India.
UAE hosted the full IPL 2020
In 2020 as well, due to the fear of COVID-19, the BCCI decided to shift the whole tournament to UAE. The tournament was a success and COVID-19 didn’t hamper the functioning of the tournament.
The COVID-19 outbreak causes 2nd half of IPL 2021 to happen in UAE
Other than those two occasions, the 2nd half of the IPL 2021 also happened in UAE. Initially, the full season supposed to happen in India only. But so many COVID-19 cases break out from different franchises causing IPL 2021 to move to UAE later in the same year. Only 29 games happened in India in IPL 2021 in from April 09 to May 02. The rest of the tournament happened in UAE in September-October 2021.
If BCCI has to move IPL 2024 out of India due to Lok Sabha Elections, UAE will be one of the first options for them.
(2) Sri Lanka (SL)
Sri Lanka will be one of the options for the BCCI to shift the IPL 2024. One of the main reasons to pick Sri Lanka as the IPL 2024 venue is timing. India and Sri Lanka have the same time slot. So the game can start at the same time as it is in India.
Also, if Sri Lanka hosts the IPL 2024, it will boost its economy, and its relationship with India will be stronger.
SL players coming back in IPL in the last few seasons
Not so many Sri Lankan players were involved in the IPL before the last couple of seasons. But now again players like W Hasaranga, M Theekshana, M Pathirana, D Shanaka, etc are playing in the IPL. Kumar Sangakkara is also involved with the RR franchise as Director of Cricket and head coach.
SL was in contention as a venue for the remaining IPL 2021
At one stage, in 2021, when the BCCI was thinking of the possible venues for the remaining IPL games, Sri Lanka was one of the venues in BCCI’s contention. Asia Cup 2023 also shifted to Sri Lanka. So Sri Lanka could be a possibility for the IPL 2024.
(3) South Africa (SA)
South Africa will be one of the three options we have picked to host IPL 2024. They already hosted IPL in 2009 due to the same reason of general elections.
BCCI also manage to start the game according to the Indian Standard Time. Although, the local timing (South Africa’s time zone) was different.
Also, SA has so many grounds to host the IPL 2024 as compared to UAE and SL.
SA will be one of the last options for the IPL 2024 as BCCI would like to prefer an Asian country.
Other venues for IPL 2024
West Indies (WI)
West Indies and the US could be the possibility for the IPL 2024. The reason behind that is the next T20 WC is set to be held in those conditions. And the players will get used to the pitches, conditions, and the time zone before the important tournament.
But the problem is the time slot will be so different in India. All the fans would have not enjoyed the action and the broadcasters will also come into play.
England (ENG)
England was also in BCCI’s mind when they were looking for options for the remaining IPL 2021 games, along with Sri Lanka. But again the time zone would be different. And England Board also demands that the Indian players play in their own league ‘The Hundred’. That’s why the possibility for England is so less.
Those two venues will be in consideration only when the other 3 venues could not be possible. Although it is highly unlikely.
Other options for the BCCI
Early start and finish of the tournament
The BCCI might start the tournament early and finish early by May 19 to make up for the Lok Sabha Elections and ICC T20 WC 2024.
Conclusion
So these are the possible venues for IPL 2024. Let’s see what BCCI will decide. Thank you for reading. Keep following us for the latest updates.
