Mayor Sadiq Khan said he is in talks with Surrey, a London-based cricket team, about the possibility of IPL franchises playing in the area, noting that the city has benefited from having NFL, NBA, NHL, and Major League Baseball teams visit in recent years.
Khan, who is running for re-election to a second term as mayor next month, said at a children’s cricket training session in southwest London on Friday, “I want us to be the undisputed sports capital of the world.”
The IPL 2021 season is underway in India, and the possibility of having those matches in England could be pushed further. Only a few days ago, veteran cricketer Kevin Pietersen spoke to South Africa coach Darren Lehmann and a host of his players. According to Pietersen interview on Betway Insider, the game is evolving with modern players hitting sixes more often, and Mayor Sadiq Khan would be thrilled to see the game’s elite players clearing the ropes in the British Capital.
Since 2007, the NFL and NBA have also held annual games in London, while the NHL held two games in the city in 2007. The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox played two games in London in 2019, making it the first MLB games ever to be held in Europe. Khan was involved in those discussions.
Khan, an ardent cricket fan, now wants India’s best players to visit the English Capital.
“The idea of only seeing [Virat] Kohli or [Rohit] Sharma or [Jasprit] Bumrah when the Indian team comes is heartbreaking,” he said. I want [M.S.] Dhoni in London with Chennai. That’s why I am really keen on working with Surrey and others to get IPL to London.”
The IPL has grown exponentially since its inception in 2008, becoming one of the most lucrative annual sporting assets in the world, attracting millions of viewers per season.
When asked about a timeline, Khan said there was no reason why friendlies couldn’t happen later this year, and that his IPL vision went beyond London.
“The first step will be the exhibition games. And they have to be Covid-safe, of course,” said Khan.
“At the moment, I’m speaking to Surrey,” added Khan, a former trialist of the club. He revealed he had strong connections to the club since his trials at the age of 15.
“But I’d love to see these games not just at Lord’s but Headingley, Edgbaston, Old Trafford and other stadiums. London is the shop window to our nation. You only get a national recovery with a London recovery.”
Khan believes that hosting IPL matches in London would help convince the BCCI to loosen its policy barring star players from participating in overseas leagues, paving the way for their participation in the ECB’s latest Hundred tournament.
“When you speak to the ECB [England and Wales Cricket Board], they would love for Indian players to be playing in the Hundred,” said Khan.
“I don’t want London just to be a place where Indians invest and shoot Bollywood movies, I want the IPL here as well.
When asked about the possibility of hosting IPL games in the British springtime, Khan said, “One of things we have to do is explain to IPL the benefits other sports have got from coming to London. These are the same conversations we were having with the MLB commissioner, the American Football commissioner. If the idea of having 90,000 fans at Wembley to watch Anthony Joshua versus Wladimir Klitschko [in a world heavyweight boxing fight in 2017] was quite scary, we pulled it off. I’m sure we can pull cricket off as well. That’s why we’ve got to be ambitious.”
“The other thing is that India is a massive investor in our city. We are the number one city in Europe that India invests in, we’re number two in the world after Dubai. Indians love cricket, we love cricket, we love Indians. We want this to be a bridge between India and London and Surrey deserve huge credit in being pioneers and with their vision to get IPL here.”
The BCCI has made no plans to switch IPL matches outside of India, and even in a post-Covid world, the logistics of such a move could be difficult.
The IPL has previously been held outside of India, in South Africa in 2009 due to security concerns and in the United Arab Emirates last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Indian Premier League, the world’s richest franchise tournament, returned on Friday for its 14th season. Defending champions Mumbai Indians kicked off their campaign to a familiar losing start, this time in the hands of Royal Challengers.
The Twenty20 tournament will feature global cricketing superstars such as India’s Virat Kohli and England’s all-rounder Ben Stokes, with all matches available on Betway and other top platforms.
The IPL is returning to India after the 2020 season took place in the UAE following heavy Covid-19 pounce on India.
Matches will be played behind closed doors this year, at least for the first half of the tournament. Despite the lack of boisterous Indian fans, there is plenty to look forward to, thanks to bio-secure bubbles and quarantine rules in place.
Despite losing the first match of the season, MI are considered the bookies favourites to retain the IPL title, and they’ll be helped by the fact that this is an odd year. They have won it five times, with four of their wins coming in odd years.