'Rains play spoilsport': Monty Panesar says 'IPL shouldn't be held in England', suggests ideal location
Soon after BCCI announced the postponement, President Sourav Ganguly confirmed that IPL 2021 will not be completed in India. Monty Panesar explains why it shouldn't happen in England.
Ever since IPL 2021 was indefinitely postponed on May 4 due to the Covid-19 crisis in India, there have been numerous speculation on when and where can the tournament be completed later this year. While some argue that UAE, which successfully hosted the 2020 edition, seems like an obvious option, there other who believe UK is a better option.
Soon after BCCI announced the postponement, President Sourav Ganguly confirmed that IPL 2021 will not be completed in India. He also hinted that the board will look to slot IPL in the September window. Since then, England and UAE have emerged as the frontrunners as reserve venues.
Speaking about IPL 2021 being completed in the UK after the five-match Test series between Indian and England and before the T20 World Cup, former England spinner Monty Panesar remarked that this option should not be carried due to the weather conditions in England in the month of September.
Panesar argued that the region experiences a high amount of rainfall in the concerned month, which could end up playing the spoilsport for the cash-rich league. He added that the extreme weather conditions could "spoil the fun."
“IPL shouldn’t be held in England in September because it will rain a lot there. Too many intervals will spoil the fun. If India are not able to control the pandemic, it should be held in UAE because weather conditions play a huge factor. When it rains in England, it plays spoilsport. You will see an important T20 match get reduced to 15 overs and then 10 overs. We don’t want that to happen with IPL because the brand will take a hit,” Monty Panesar told Sports Yaari, a Youtube channel.
The former left-arm spinner also urged the authorities to take weather conditions into account while deciding the fixtures.
“IPL's brand is about completed games which are very exciting. 15th to 20th over are high scoring and the most exciting, it won't be fun [if it rains and overs are reduced]. Authorities should take weather into account while deciding fixtures. The weather in UAE is great,” the former left-arm spinner added.
31 matches, of the 60-match tournament, are yet to be played. Before the premature halt, Delhi Capitals were leading the table with six wins from eight matches.