May 7 (DeccanChronicle) – Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is “keen” to help the Indian cricket board to host the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
This offer has come at the time when the former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who now happens to the BCCI president has said, “we have to speak to other boards and see if a window can be made available before the T20 World Cup”.
“If we fail to complete the IP, the loss will be close to INR 2500 crore (USD 340 million approx.) That is going by early estimates”.
“Yes, we can certainly provide a window to host the IPL in the month of September”, Prof. Arjuna de Silva, the chief of the managing committee of the SLC, speaking exclusively over the telephone from Colombo, said.
“We hear the UAE (United Arab Emirates) is their one option but Sri Lanka can not be ignored for all reasons”.
“We are planning to host the Lanka Premier League (LPL) in July-August and the grounds and other infrastructure will be ready for the IPL in September”, he added.
Prof. de Silva’s term is scheduled to be over this month after the SLC elections on May 20, but whoever comes in power the offer will stand to be open.
The IPL teams have already hired the services of Sri Lanka’s legendary cricketers- Kumar Sangakkara, Muttiah Muralitharan and Mahela Jayawardene.