IPL 2024: BCCI considering UAE as potential host for second half

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials are exploring the idea of shifting the second half of the IPL to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Notably, due to the upcoming General Elections, it’s tough for BCCI to find a solution and host the entire tournament in India and with that, there’s a possibility of the tournament shifting to UAE for the third time in history.

Notably, due to the General Elections in 2014, BCCI hosted the first half of the IPL in UAE and then in 2020, the entire tournament was hosted in that region due to a surge of COVID-19 cases in India. Even though there has been no official confirmation regarding the same an interesting development has given birth to speculations.

As per reports, IPL teams have asked their players to submit their passports. This shows that BCCI is keeping all options open before the Election Commissioner announces the dates on March 16.

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“The Election Commission of India will announce the election schedule on Saturday at 3 pm. After that, the BCCI will decide whether IPL matches should be moved to Dubai. Currently, a few top BCCI officials are in Dubai to explore the possibility of organizing the second half of the IPL in Dubai,” sources told The Times of India.

The first half of the IPL schedule was announced on February 22 but BCCI couldn’t take the next step as The Election Commission of India didn’t announce the dates earlier. Notably, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore will kick off the action on March 22 in M Chidambaram Stadium while the last match of the first leg will be played between Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans on April 7.

After that, there might be a break in case the IPL shifts to UAE for its second half. Meanwhile, even if it shifts to the Gulf country, there’s a slight possibility that it might once again return to India for the last phase of the tournament. However, it still remains to be an idea and the concrete discussions will only take place after the Election Commissioner announces the dates.