IPL 2020 in UAE: Past instances when the tournament was played outside India

The much awaited 13th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to be played between September and November this year as IPL chairman Brijesh Patel confirmed on Friday that the tournament is likely to begin from September 19.

The schedule will be finalised after IPL’s governing council meeting but as things stands currently, the tournament will be played in the United Arab Emirates, pending government approvals. If the tournament is played outside India, due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, this will be only the second time that the tournament will be held completely outside India.

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Here the two previous instances when IPL was played outside India.

1) IPL 2009: TheIndian Premier League made a smashing debut in the year 2008 as it captured the imagination of the entire cricketing world with its slam bang cricket on the field and the glamour and razzmatazz off it. After a great opening seson, IPL was ready to consolidate its success in 2009 but the BCCI was faced with an uphilll challenge.

It was the year of the general election and holding a tournament of the scale of IPL along side the elections was an impossible task, specially in terms of ensuring security. But the show had to go on and so it did. South Africa welcomes the BCCI with open arms and the tournament was shifted to the Rainbow Nation.

It turned out to be a great success as a global audience witnessed IPL matches played at the scenic venues of South Africa. The tournament saw a star studded Royal Challengers Bangalore team take on Adam Gilchrist inspired Deccan Chargers.

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In the end the Chargers came up trumps with young players like Rohit Sharma and RP Singh excelling for the team.

2) IPL 2014: The only other time IPL had to move out of India was five years later in 2014 as it clashed with the general elections yet again. The BCCI though was able to create a two-phase tournament which allowed the business end of the tournament to be played in India.

The initial phase was played in UAE over three venues. The likes of Glenn Maxwell, playing for Kings XI Punjab, were the star of the show in the opening leg. The tournament was eventually won by Gautam Gambhir’s Kolkata Knight Riders.

KXIP reached the final and looked set for their maiden triumph after they put a huge score on the board in the final. But they were stunned by Manish Pandey, who played a match winning knock to help KKR win their second title.

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