"IPL Won't Be Moved Overseas": Jay Shah After Poll Date Announcement

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has secretary Jay Shah has confirmed in an interview that the Indian Premier League (IPL) will not be moved overseas. This comes after reports claimed apart of the cash-rich T20 league might be shifted to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to the General Elections in India. The General Election dates were announced on Saturday. After the election date announcement, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in an interview that IPL would not be shifted.

“No, it won’t be moved overseas,” Shah told Cricbuzz on Saturday. The elections will be held from April 19 to June 4. The IPL starts on March 22 with a match in Chennai between MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. So far, the first two weeks’ dates have been announced.

IPL chairman Arun Dhumal on Saturday also dismissed speculation that the league would be shifted to the UAE due to the upcoming general elections in the country between April 19 to June 1. There were endless rumours about the IPL being shifted to the Emirates due to the elections which will be held in seven phases with the reports filling social media about players being asked to deposit their passports with respective franchises.

However, Dhumal set the record straight. “The IPL is not being shifted anywhere. We will soon announce the remaining fixture,” Dhumal told PTI.

The schedule for the first two weeks has been already released with defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore at home on March 22.

In earlier conversations with PTI, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had categorically maintained that the full tournament will be held in India, just like it happened in 2019, the year of previous Lok Sabha election. They were only waiting for the Election Commission to announce the poll dates.

However, the league was shifted out of the country during the general elections in 2014 when the UPA government was in power. Then the first phase was held in the UAE before returning to India for the second phase.

With PTI inputs