The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 is scheduled to kick off on March 22. Given the Lok Sabha elections this year, the tournament will be split into two phases. The first leg begins next Friday with defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) facing off against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Chepauk stadium. The BCCI has unveiled half of the tournament’s fixtures and will reveal the rest after the Election Commission of India announces the polling dates.
According to The Times of India, the second phase of IPL 2024 might move to the UAE, reminiscent of 2014. BCCI officials are reportedly in the UAE to assess the feasibility of holding the latter half of the tournament in Dubai.
“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,” the report quoted sources as saying.
The IPL was previously relocated to the UAE in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid outbreak, with matches spread across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah.
Some IPL franchises have taken precautionary measures by collecting players’ passports in case the second phase moves out of India due to the general elections. However, BCCI sources maintain that the league will remain in India.
Reports also suggest that franchises have collected passports as a precaution against any last-minute changes to mitigate potential validity issues.
