IPL 2019 To Be Held In India Despite Lok Sabha Elections

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday announced that the 2019 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held in the country, but it will start earlier than usual.

It was earlier speculated the cash-rich T20 tournament might be fully or partially held overseas to avoid clashing with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The IPL has been played outside India twice due to general elections. The entire 2009 edition was moved to South Africa, while in 2014, some games were played in the UAE.

The decision was reportedly taken during the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) meet in New Delhi.

"Based on the preliminary discussions with the appropriate central and state agencies/authorities, it was decided that the 12th edition of the world's most popular and competitive T20 tournament will be scheduled to be played in India," the BCCI said in a release.

The release added that tournament will start on March 23, but "The detailed schedule will be finalised in consultation with the appropriate authorities. The COA will then have detailed discussion with all the Stakeholders before releasing the schedule," BCCI said.

The last time the IPL got started in March was 2010. After that, the league has always kicked off in the first half of April and ended in late May.

The early start this year is because of the ODI World Cup in England which will get underway from May 30.

There has to be a 15-day gap between the end of the IPL and India's international engagements as per the new BCCI constitution.

It's understood that the detailed fixture will be fixed once the Election Commission announced the election dates, which are likely to be held in April-May.

There has to be a 15-day gap between the end of the IPL and India's international engagements as per the new BCCI constitution.

(With PTI inputs)