DUBAI // Leading Indian Premier League (IPL) players hope their franchises can return to the UAE in the future, no matter how they have fared during its enforced relocation here the past two weeks.
The tournament was brought here due to security reasons, as the schedule of the opening matches clashed with parliamentary elections back in India.
It has met with great popularity, with all tickets sold for 19 of the 20 matches that have been played on these shores.
Now the tournament's organisers are considering staging the ICC Champions League Twenty20 competition here, given the success of the IPL matches.
Rohit Sharma, whose Mumbai Indians side have generally suffered a miserable time on the field in the UAE, believes the competition would be a “grand success” here.
“We have seen the first part of the IPL being played in the UAE and being a massive success,” Rohit, the Mumbai captain, said.
“I’m sure if the Champions League happened in the UAE it would be a good step because what we have seen in the last couple of weeks has been fantastic. I think it would be a grand success.
“We have the best cricket facilities for practice, some of the best grounds in the world, so why not? If you have such great facilities, why not use them?
“There are a lot of people here who love to watch cricket and with the Champions League being the pinnacle, where the champion teams from around the world challenge each other, people would want to witness that.”
Although Mumbai were in a rush to get back home to try to get their title defence back on track in more familiar conditions, Rohit said his side “always felt like we were playing at home”.
“It is always good when you have crowds supporting you,” he said. “You want to come and perform for them.”
The IPL’s organisers have cooled prospects of the league returning here, pointing out the fact it is primarily an Indian domestic competition.
“It is the Indian Premier League, so we must try to have it in India,” Sundar Raman, the league’s chief operating officer of the IPL, said earlier this week.
“It is a tournament intended for India so, by default, it must happen in India.”
However, Sunil Gavaskar, the league’s interim chairman, has been a vocal champion of the value of staging cricket in the UAE.
Before the competition started here this month, he suggested a successful leg of the IPL could prompt India’s national team to return to playing on these shores.
He cited the matches he played with India in Sharjah in the past as evidence of the enthusiasm for the sport here.
The subsequent IPL fixtures, played out in front of packed stands, exceeded even his expectations, though.
In Dubai, for instance, all 125,000 tickets were taken up in advance of the five match-days played at the UAE’s largest cricket venue.
“We have been absolutely blown away by the crowds, even for the 2.30pm games,” Gavaskar said this week.
“We initially thought 6.30pm games wouldn’t be an issue but 19 out of 20 games have been sellouts, so that’s a sign of how the IPL has caught the imagination of people here.”
George Bailey, captain of a King XI Punjab side which won all five of their matches here, believes the IPL’s exile was a major hit.
He thinks the fact the UAE has presented itself as a viable alternative to India can only be a good thing for the competition.
“I think it has really opened the region’s eyes up to cricket,” Bailey said.
“As we have gone out and had dinner round the city and things like that, I think people have really warmed to the IPL.
“I hear a lot of people saying they would like to have the start of the IPL here every year. So India might have a fight on their hands, which would be outstanding.”
pradley@thenational.ae
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