Published: May 29, 2016, 05:57 PM (IST)
Edited: May 29, 2016, 06:03 PM (IST)
November 2015 saw Cricket All-Stars being hosted in the United States, where the retired cricket greats clashed against each other for the trophy. The Sachin Tendulkar vs Shane Warne clash was expected to be a huge hit and it did, and the baseball stands were filled with die-hard cricket fans of the south Asian origin.
Cashing on the popularity of the sport in US, there are talking that BCCI might host a mini-Indian Premier League (IPL) in the country. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) may be playing exhibition matches in the US. Times of India recently reported that the three above franchises have expressed their interest to cash-in on the sport’s growing popularity in North America. Also Read: When Virat Kohli gets pinched by skipper MS Dhoni
If this happens, we will end up watching Virat Kohli vs MS Dhoni in US. It will be an icing on the cake for the die-hard expats. A BCCI official was quoted by the newspaper, as saying, “The matter is expected to be discussed at the IPL Governing Council in Bengaluru before start of the final match tomorrow. The venue is tentatively Houston. However, the dates need to be chalked out. Earlier, it was being discussed it would happen in the window available between India’s tour of Zimbabwe and West Indies. But it could now be held in September also. All three teams are expected to play against each other. Obviously, major attractions will be Kohli and Dhoni.” Also Read: MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and other Indian cricketers have fun behind the camera
The report also lists the city of Houston as one of the centres for the exhibition matches. It was one of the venues for Cricket All-Stars too.
If the response is good then BCCI may expand IPL to overseas market. IPL is not alien to foreign lands, in 2009, the tournament was hosted in South Africa and in 2014, the first half of the tournament took place in the UAE.
Kohli, Dhoni and Rohit Sharma are indubitably the three most popular Indian cricketers and fans in the States will surely be up for a treat once deal is finalised.
