Online Cricket : South Africa to host IPL

March 24, 2009

The Indian Premier League is to move the Twenty20 cricket championship to South Africa after security concerns forced the competition from its home country.

The Indian elections are having an unintended effect on the future of cricket on the sub-continent with news that the Indian Premier League will be played in South Africa this year.

Lalit Modi, the IPL’s commissioner, told reporters in Johannesburg on Tuesday night that the tournament had chosen South Africa over England as the host and that the competition’s opening game would be played on April 18.

England’s chances of hosting the tournament receded when the IPL raised doubts about the British climate in April and May. Although the England and Wales Cricket Board was willing to help out, lack of floodlighting at some grounds, the start of the English season and the short timescale for drawing up security plans would also have made the logistical preparations difficult.