IPL 2019 likely to be held in South Africa: Reports

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already started its preparations for the upcoming 12th edition of the IPL, which would be organized during the time of the general elections and hence could be moved out of the country. The BCCI has previously moved the second and the seventh edition out of the country because of the general elections. All the matches of the IPL 2009 were held in South Africa while a few games of the seventh season were played in UAE.

According to reports of The Mumbai Mirror, plan A, B and C have been put in place by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) and the BCCI management headed by CEO Rahul Johri and IPL COO Hemang Amin. According to sources, if the tournament will be moved out of India completely then the board would prefer South Africa, but in case of a partial shift then they might think about the three venues in the UAE. The board officials also considered England but it would be the least preferred venue because of the involvement of high cost.

The board has informally informed the possible hosts- South Africa, UAE, and England alongside other stakeholders that is including the franchise owners as well. The board has to face some cricketing challenges as well because of the schedule of ICC World Cup that is scheduled to be played from May 30.

Usually, the league has been finishing at around that time so far, and during the last two World Cups, the league was played after the ICC event. But with the current scenario, the IPL dates are needed to be advanced because of the World Cup.