Despite the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) facing logistical challenges, due to the impending Lok Sabha elections and the T20 World Cup, chairman of the IPL Governing Council Arun Dhumal is confident of the tournament continuing in the home-and-away format even in the second phase.
The BCCI has only released the schedule for the first 21 games, between March 22 and April 7, and Dhumal said that the dates for the remaining games will be announced once there is more clarity regarding the elections, while maintaining that the tournament will be held in India.
“Even in 2019, the IPL was played in a home-away format in its entirety despite the general elections. This time, too, once the dates for the elections are out and we have clarity about the dates and the phases for the polls, we can work out the next phase of the IPL,” he told Sportstar.
“We would ideally want to have home and away games, but in case there’s a problem figuring out the (time), we will see how we can accommodate that. The idea is that nobody should get an advantage over the other team and there has to be uniformity. There should be equal opportunities for the team,” he added.
The 2019 edition of the IPL was held between March 23 and May 12 and coincided with the elections, held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19.
However, IPL 2014 was held in two phases, with the first set of 20 matches being held across three venues in the United Arab Emirates from April 16 and April 30. The India leg of the tournament started on May 2 and ended on June 1, and still coincided with the polls, held in nine phases from April 7 to May 12.
The cash-rich league was faced with the challenge of holding the tournament in a general election year for the first time in 2009 and decided to stage all matches in South Africa that year.
Dhumal, however, has ruled out the possibility of a portion of the tournament being held outside India at such short notice.
“Given the time we have in April and May, it would be very difficult to take this tournament to any other country. If you talk about Dubai, it would be very hot around that time, and other teams have their bilateral commitments. Given the number of matches we have, I don’t think not many venues can take this load in such a short time. The team at BCCI is best equipped and we will take it as a challenge and have a good tournament,” he said.
The IPL will also have to contend with the T20 World Cup, which begins on June 1 in the United States of America and West Indies.
IPL 2024 to end by last week of May
With the aim of allowing India to get accustomed to very different conditions ahead of the global extravaganza, the IPL is looking at wrapping up the tournament by May 25 or 26.
This could result in increased workloads for players as Dhumal indicated that the number of double-headers may need to be increased in order to complete the tournament by the scheduled date.
“We might have to increase double-headers, but we will be able to give better clarity once the polls are over,” he said.
With the elections likely to be held in April and May, IPL 2024 is bound to coincide with the polls. How the management tackles logistical challenges while ensuring the tournament retains its home-and-away format will be interesting to see over the next few weeks.
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