IPL to be held in South Africa

Johannesburg, Mar 25: Suspense over the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) ended on Tuesday with the announcement in Johannesburg and other six South African cities will host the IPL event.

IPL is scheduled to start one week later than scheduled, Apr 18 and will culminate on May 24. BCCI recognised that there were logistical issues, including climate and permanent floodlights, which made South Africa a more practical choice in the timescale available.

IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi met officials of Cricket South Africa (CSA), including chief exective Gerald Majola, on Tuesday, Mar 24 afternoon and a consensus was quickly arrived at in Johannesburg.

The decision also eliminated England"s chances of hosting the event with the weather being a key factor.

Cape Town, Pretoria, Johanesburg, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth are the six host cities for IPL-2 games with the opening ceremony scheduled to be held in Cape Town. In all, there will be 59 matches played with games starting at 4 pm and 8 pm IST.

OneIndia News