BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal has confirmed the board will take all possible measures to ensure that the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League is held on Indian soil, before the option of staging the tournament abroad is considered. The IPL was scheduled to start on April 29 before it was postponed indefinitely due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

And now, with Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates and most recently New Zealand stepping up with proposals to host the IPL, Dhumal has made it clear that staging the tournament abroad will be the BCCI’s last resort.

“We’ve to consider India first and then think of overseas. They have sent these proposals in case we want to organise it there. We will discuss it in the next IPL governing council meeting where we will take a call,” Dhumal told Reuters.

Only twice in its 12-year history has the IPL been staged outside of India. Due to the general elections, the second edition in 2009 was held in South Africa, which the now-defunct Deccan Chargers won by defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final. Six years later, due to the same reason, the first-half of the IPL in 2014 was staged in the UAE across Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The BCCI stares at a financial loss of approximately Rs 4000 crore if it is unable to host the IPL this year. The board is keen to slot the tournament in the October-November window if the T20 World Cup is postponed, but with the ICC yet to make a decisive call regarding the fate of the ICC tournament, the BCCI, for now, seems to be stuck in a limbo.

The uncertainty of the T20 World Cup, as Dhumal explains, has caused the board scheduling headaches. “Everybody is under the pressure because of the uncertainty,” Dhumal added.