Who should host the IPL?

If I was Lalit Modi I’d opt for South Africa rather than England to host this year’s IPL.

Although putting aside the unfortunate circumstances leading up to the relocation, on a personal level I’d love to see the IPL come to England. Like it or not Twenty20 represents the future, and the opportunity to see the world’s most exciting players lining up against each other in the shortest form of the game would be superb.

I don’t doubt that we’ve got the infrastructure to hold the tournament; we’ve definitely got the grounds; given the will there shouldn’t be any problem fitting the games into the domestic schedule; and I’m sure the public (both ex-pat / second generation Indian and ‘English’ cricket fans) have got the appetite to fill the stadiums.

But as the big shots at the IPL understand this isn’t really a tournament for live spectators, instead the long term success of the competition will live or die by TV money, and I just feel that South Africa will deliver a better televised spectacle.

Two reasons, both weather related, mean that a South African based competition will provide more exciting cricket. England in April and May means showers, and we’ve just seen in the West Indies just how unsatisfactory one day games that finish on the DL method can be. Equally unsatisfactory for the worldwide TV audience would be early season English conditions, great for traditional English seamers, but hardly conducive to the barrage of boundaries that Twenty20 thrives on.

That South Africa wins on both fronts is a real shame, as I’d love to Ishant Sharma coming in to bowl at Sehwag at the Oval, or Chris Gayle facing up to Dale Steyn at Trent Bridge...