Putting down the curtain of suspense revolving IPL 2, BCCI president Shashank Manohar announced on Sunday (22nd March) that the T20 event will be held outside India. He held the state governments responsible for the decision to shift IPL overseas. The BCCI took the decision in an emergency meeting as the dates of the tournament were clashing with general elections. Adding to its woe, several state governments had expressed their reservations on providing security for the tournament.

 

Apologizing to the people of India for moving the tournament outside India, Manohar said that, BCCI is going ahead with the event so that people can at least watch the event on television. IPL Commissioner and Chairman Lalit Modi said the number of matches, format and timing of the event will remain unchanged. However, a final decision on the IPL dates and venues will be announced on Monday (23rd March), he said.

 

Meanwhile, media reports speculate that South Africa and England are the two countries being considered as the likely venues. A BCCI press release, said it was not possible to hold the event on any other dates than the original schedule due to busy international calendar. The release also said the tournament provided a large amount of revenue last year so, it would not hold a truncated event.