MUMBAI: Even as an assertion made by SportzPower on July 6 that the UAE would be hosting this year’s Indian Premier League becomes more and more likely with each passing day, the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) is keeping the venues – Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi – in a state of readiness.
Gulf News, quoting informed sources, reports that some of the franchises have also touched base with hotels in Dubai with an aim to work out their projected costs.
IPL teams are expected to arrive in the UAE well before the tournament starts. “We need a month to prepare but our overseas players will be ready to play,” a team owner told the Indian media.
Speaking to Gulf News, Salman Hanif, head of Cricket & Events of Dubai Sports City (which includes the Dubai International Stadium & the ICC Academy) said they were ready to put their best foot forward if the IPL is held here and to host the Indian players if they arrive here early for practice sessions. “The stadium has nine wickets on the top in case a large number of matches have to be accommodated within a smaller time-frame. We will not be scheduling any matches there to keep the wickets fresh,” said Hanif.
The official, in fact, went a step forward to suggest that they were even ready to host the matches with a “limited number of spectators” if the government protocol allows for that after a period of two months.
“The practice facilities are never be going to be a problem as we have hosted multi-team events before. In the ICC complex alone, there are 38 wickets – spread over the two Oval grounds, the simulated turf wickets as well as the state-of-the-art indoor facilities in case they want to beat the heat,’’ Hanif added.
The IPL has had to be taken overseas on two occasions in the past – 2009 (fully in South Africa) and 2014 (partially in UAE), the event coinciding on both occasions with parliamentary elections in India.
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