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The seventh edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will start on April 16, with Abu Dhabi hosting the opening match between defending champions Mumbai Indians and 2012 winners Kolkata Knight Riders.
The season starts with a foreign location since the dates clash with the general elections. In 2009, IPL-2 was held in South Africa for the same reason.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) will host the first leg of IPL 2014, while the playoffs and the final-leg will be played in India.
The event will go on till June 1, in three phases.
16 matches in phase 1The first phase will be held from April 16 to 30 with at least 16 matches to be played in the UAE, according to a press release issued by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which held its governing council meeting, chaired by its president N Srinivasan, in the city.
In the second phase, from May 1 to May 12, the BCCI had sought permission from the Union Home Affairs Ministry to play matches in cities where polling for the general election will be concluded in the respective States.
Plan BIf it is not possible to play in India during this period, matches will be held in Bangladesh. “BCCI is extremely conscious of the various complexities involved but hopes for a favourable consideration. It will abide by the decision of the (Indian) authorities in this regard,” said the release issued by Sanjay Patel, Secretary, BCCI.
From May 13, after the polling ends in all States, the remaining league matches plus the playoffs will be played in India.
There will be no matches scheduled on the day of counting (May 16).
The BCCI will take the advice of authorities if any further restrictions are required around the counting day.
Patel told newspersons after the six-hour-long meeting that around 20 matches will be held outside the country and the rest in India.
The BCCI has received confirmation to host matches in seven cities in States such as Gujarat, Karnataka and Odisha, he said.
On whether the BCCI will share the gate collection with franchisees, Patel said, there is a difference in match-hosting fees, but at the same time the BCCI is bearing a lot of expenditure. It would be worked out but was not considered at today’s meeting, said Patel.
“It is a game played out of the country, and it is difficult to say at this moment who will get how much. We are still working on the costs,” he said.
Three venues in UAEIn the UAE, matches will be played in three stadiums — Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah's CA Stadium and Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
On Wednesday’s BCCI announcement, David Richardson, Chief Executive of the International Cricket Council, said it will complete a remarkable season of cricket in the UAE, which has already seen the successful staging of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2013 and the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2014.
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