England Emerges As Favourite Destination for Ipl

After weeks of dilly-dallying from the home ministry and the various state governments, the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) has lost patience and decided to shift the Indian Premier League out of the country. Sources told The Guardian that England is the preferred destination, though South Africa is also being considered. Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman, also said that the tournament dates (10 April to 24 May) and the 59-game format would not be changed.

The news will come as a severe blow to the government after the first edition of the competition had earned them more than £13m in taxes. The BCCI took the decision this morning after the home ministry and some state governments had expressed reservations about providing adequate security for the event. The main issue was the clash of dates with the parliamentary polls, to be held in five phases between 16 April and 13 May.

canceling the competition would have cost the IPL and the various stakeholders anything between £60m and £120m, mainly in television rights and sponsorship deals, and though the cricket board offered three different schedules, the government continued to dither on security.

The BCCI's working committee meeting was attended by Sharad Pawar, the former board chief who is also a the union minister for agrilculture, and afterwards, Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president, lashed out at the attitude of some state governments.

"Because of the attitude of the government that they are not ready to spare security forces for the cricket tournament, we are forced to take the decision to move the event out of India," he said. "We are in discussion with other boards who are willing to host the event.

"I apologise to the people of India for moving the tournament out. But we're are going ahead with the event so that they can at least watch the event on television."

Modi insisted that the "integrity" of the tournament would not be affected and he reacted angrily to suggestions that the move out of India had commercial considerations. "You have no idea what you're talking about," he told a reporter. "We will end up spending a lot more money and may not even make a profit. But that doesn't matter."

"The Indian audience can watch the matches at 4pm and 8pm as they did in the inaugural season," he said. "All the club owners are in tune with the decision. We are going ahead and finalising the schedule. We could not have a truncated tournament. We will cover all costs and are not concerned with profit and loss."

Manohar saved most of his ire for the state governments of Andhra Pradesh (home to the Deccan Chargers) and Maharashtra (the Mumbai Indians). "The Andhra Pradesh government revoked its earlier permission, and the Maharashtra chief minister wrote a letter that we can't host matches in that state until 13 May," he said. "We had scheduled 18 matches for Maharashtra."

A press release from the BCCI spoke of how no other window existed to host the competition. "The BCCI is conscious of the general elections, which will be held between 16 April and 13 May 2009," it said. "The BCCI has had several discussions with the Ministry of Home Affairs on the scheduling of IPL matches. It is pertinent to understand that within the present international calendar of events, there is no other window for IPL to be played during this year.

"Immediately after the IPL, the teams will be in England on 25 May for the ICC Twenty20 World Cup commencing from 2 June. After the ICC Twenty20 World Cup, the Indian team will play four ODIs in the West Indies after which the team will tour Zimbabwe for a tri-series involving Zimbabwe and South Africa. In September, India would play [the] Champions Trophy in South Africa, following which would be the Champions League. Between October 2009 and March 2010, there are three home series against Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa."

The franchise owners have remained optimistic despite a decision that will force them to completely rethink their marketing and promotional tactics. Less than a day earlier, Vijay Mallya, the owner of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, had appointed England's Kevin Pietersen as his captain, in place of Rahul Dravid, and he had no quibbles with the move. "The financial interests of the franchisees will be fully protected," he said. "There is a true commitment on the part of the IPL and BCCI that the tournament will go on despite the unfortunate conflict with the election schedule."