London is ideally placed to host IPL matches: London Mayor Sadiq Khan

Are football-like inter-league friendlies between the Indian Premier League teams and the other leagues a possibility? The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, hopes to break down barriers and bring IPL teams to play in the British capital. It is worth noting that the BCCI’s flagship tournament is the world’s biggest and the most-watched T20 cricket league. 

Since its inception in 2008, the tournament has seen an increase in viewership with each passing season.

"Surrey are speaking to teams in India and colleagues in the BCCI and IPL. The first step will be friendlies and exhibition matches. We want to get them going, maybe even this year if we make progress as we are doing with the pandemic. It has to be Covid-safe, of course. We have to bang the drum for our city, and sport is one way to do this," Sadiq Khan said at a children’s cricket training session in southwest London.

Despite the fact that it was a year that pandemic put a halt to various things, the cash-rich tournament recorded an all-time high number of viewers during the 2020 edition of IPL.

“This is part of my plan to build a better London after the pandemic. I know Londoners are hungry to see more of the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant and, with two of the world’s greatest cricket grounds in Lord’s and The Kia Oval, London is ideally placed to host IPL matches,” he said. 

Bringing IPL to London is a win-win situation, says Mr Khan

“I will never stop banging the drum for investment in our city and bringing the Indian Premier League to London would not only guarantee a home crowd for every country but boost tourism and generate much-needed revenue to help get our capital back on its feet,” Khan said.