New Delhi: Buoyed by the success of the IPL tournament year after year, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is now said to be mulling over the idea of organising a mini IPL tournament abroad in the month of September this year.
While the BCCI believes such an idea is interesting for its overseas fans, its plans could face stiff competition from the International Cricket Council (ICC) itself, which is planning to hold an international T20 tournament in the same period.
"It can be a great testing ground for what is possible in terms of reaching out to the Indian fan base abroad. It can be made financially viable if a market like the US is explored. Frankly, if the broadcaster finds it appealing then a lot of things fall into place," a source close to cricket board told Times of India.
Indian cricket board is planning to introduce this new tournament to replace the loss-making Champions League T20, which was based on the concept of the UEFA Champions League. After six editions, the last one played in 2014, BCCI was forced to scrap the tournament as it failed to bring in profits.
Meanwhile, the ICC is also planning to host a new international T20 tournament or might reconsider its decision of hosting World T20 once every four years.
"Bilateral T20 Internationals are both rare and devoid of any context. But international tournaments get great numbers. It makes sense for ICC to revert to the old logic of having one ICC event every year and thereby one World T20 every two years," said the source.
