South Africa leads race to host IPL

SOURCE CNN-IBN New Delhi: In an unexpected turnaround, South Africa has overtaken England as the venue for the second season of the Indian Premier league.

While England was considered the favourite to host the matches till Sunday, South Africa emerged as the front runner with Lalit Modi and his colleagues heading to the rainbow nation first.

"Logistically, it's easier for me to go to Johannesburg and then to London," IPL chief Modi told CNN-IBN.

It appears now that the venue of the tournament may take a couple of more days before it is finalised.

Weather turned out to be the main factor that swayed the BCCI officials against using England as a venue, according to reports. The officials feared that rain would seriously disrupt the schedule of the tournament to be held from April 10 to May 24.

"There is a large number of South Asian population in London. Weather is a problem in London. There are 70 per cent chances of the games being disrupted by rain. The IPL will also be clashing with the London Marathon and a number of Test matches, which will be blocking the rooms," Modi stated.

Besides, South Africa may work out to be a much cheaper option. It is also reported that the South African Government is extremely keen to host the mega event.

South Africa is also considered a better option than England in terms of TV timings. The IPL wants to start its first match of the day at 4 pm IST, which would mean a 11.30 am start in England. In South Africa it would be a 12.30 pm start.

"In South Africa, we can start on April 10 without any hesitation but the English cricket season begins on April 10 in England with a match in Lord's," Modi added.

Till Sunday, England was a favoured venue as the Indian team management felt that it would be the ideal preparation for the second Twenty20 World Championship, which is scheduled to begin from June 5.