LONDON: The mayor of London wants to bring Indian Premier League cricket matches to the British capital.
Mayor Sadiq Khan said he is working with London-based cricket team Surrey about the feasibility of getting IPL franchises to play in London, saying the city has benefitted from having NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball teams come across the Atlantic for games in recent years.
“I want us to be the undisputed sports capital of the world,” Khan, who is seeking re-election next month for a second term as mayor, said at a children’s cricket training session in southwest London on Friday.
The NFL (since 2007) and NBA (since 2013) have played games annually in London, while the NHL staged two games in the city in 2007. In 2019, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox played two games in London the first MLB games ever to take place in Europe. Khan played a role in those negotiations.
Khan, an avid cricket fan, now wants to see India’s top players come over.
“The idea of only seeing [Virat] Kohli or [Rohit] Sharma or [Jasprit] Bumrah when the Indian team comes is heartbreaking,” he said. I want [M.S.] Dhoni in London with Chennai. That’s why I am really keen on working with Surrey and others to get IPL to London.”
Following its inception in 2008, the IPL has achieved stratospheric growth, developing into one of the world’s most lucrative annual sporting properties, pulling in millions of viewers each season.
Pressed on a timescale, Khan said there was no reason that friendlies could not take place later this year, saying his IPL vision extended beyond London.
“The first step will be the exhibition games. And they have to be Covid-safe, of course,” he said.
“At the moment, I’m speaking to Surrey,” added Khan, who once had a trial for the club as a 15-year-old.
“But I’d love to see these games not just at Lord’s but Headingley, Edgbaston, Old Trafford and other stadiums. London is the shop window to our nation. You only get a national recovery with a London recovery.”
Khan said playing IPL matches in London could help persuade the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to relax its policy prohibiting star players from taking part in overseas leagues and pave the way for their involvement in the ECB’s new Hundred tournament.
