United Arab Emirates may host Champions League T20: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar

The interim BCCI president Sunil Gavaskar has revealed that the United Arab Emirates, after successfully hosting the first leg of the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League, remains an option to host the Champions League T20 later this year. Citing the possibility of rain playing spoilsport in the months of September and October in India, Gavaskar said that the final decision, however, remains in the hands of broadcasters, as timings can make a difference in the revenue.

The 64-year-old said: “[It is] certainly a possibility because there are two aspects at the back of the BCCI's mind. The first is the weather in India at that stage, because it will be monsoon-ish still and the monsoon will be tapering off and you know don't want to have matches washed out. That will be one at the back of their mind. And the fact that you know at that particular time there will be a lot of people wanting to come to Dubai.

“So I guess, you know, those are the factors that will certainly come into play. Eventually the decision will depend on the host broadcaster, and what he feels about it because timings sometimes can make a difference so I think all those factors have certainly to be sorted out within the next four weeks or so.”

Following the 2001 match-fixing scandal, the Indian federal government had prohibited the BCCI from scheduling any matches at Sharjah. Even after the time period, the Board refrained from conducting any matches at the UAE. Now that the ice has been broken, the legendary Indian batsman believes that India could tour the UAE soon, either to play against Pakistan or in a triangular series.

He said: “I think now that we've had an opening through the IPL, I think certainly that is something that the BCCI will definitely consider," he said. "Because they have seen what the facilities on offer are and when you talk about facilities you are not only talking about on-field playing facilities, you are talking of practice facilities, which are so important when you need to prepare for the match. Those were actually world-class as well and that has made a huge impact on the authorities in India. As soon as there is window available, India will be looking to come down. Whether it is to play Pakistan or whether it is to play some triangular tournament, I'm not too sure but India will be looking for that window to come back here.”