The Indian cricket board is going ahead with the mini-IPL in the time window they got after Champions League T20 was scrapped from the calendar.
“The BCCI has decided to host a truncated IPL every September starting from this year.”
Calling it the ‘mini-IPL’ or ‘IPL overseas’, BCCI president Anurag Thakur, after the board’s working committee meet, said the final dates and format would be announced in due course.
Thakur added that, “not home and away matches but less number of matches in less than two-week window.”
As The Indian Express reported this morning, US is one of the options to host the mini-IPL.
“Space can be created on the cricket calendar because the T20 Champions League has been scrapped. We are proposing that all eight teams participate in the mini-IPL. The venue has not been finalised but the US is one of the options,” said a IPL governing council official, on condition of anonymity.
The idea was mooted during a meet of the council in Dharmasala on Thursday, the official said, adding that other venues, including those in the UAE where a part of IPL-7 was held, may also be considered.
The board had initially floated the idea of hosting a mini-IPL last September in the UAE, which has a sizeable Indian diaspora. At the time, the plan was to have only the top four teams playing in a league format leading to a knockout.
“Teams have been sounded about the proposal to conduct the mini-IPL. They are keen to broaden their fan base and increase the popularity of the league in other parts of the world, too,” the official said.
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