IPL in Saudi Arabia... why not?

Saudi Tourism Authority chief Alhasan Aldabbagh and BCCI secretary Jay Shah (right) at a city hotel yesterday. Pic/Atul Kamble

Everyone wants a piece of the multi-million dollar Indian Premier League pie. The latest to join the IPL bandwagon is Saudi Tourism Authority. Though the exact numbers behind the association were not revealed during a press conference attended by BCCI Secretary Jay Shah, Vice-President Rajeev Shukla and Treasurer Ashish Shelar along with Saudi Tourism Authority chief Alhasan Aldabbagh, the possibility of Saudi Arabia being an IPL destination in the future was not ruled out.

"We are exploring all options and looking into how we can maximise this partnership with BCCI and IPL. We are in discussion with BCCI on different [cricket] properties. The BCCI have been very collaborative with us," said Aldabbagh when asked if they are ready to the host the IPL in future.

The BCCI too are keen to promote cricket in the desert nation. "IPL's fan following will help develop Saudi Arabia as a tourist destination and at the same time, we [BCCI] would like to see the expansion of cricket in that part of the world as it benefits both the boards," said Shelar.

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Aldabbagh explained the rationale behind the association with the world's richest cricket board. "Currently our in-bound tourism is dominated by people from the GCC countries, but by 2030 we believe India can be No. 1 when it comes to this segment, and for this sports tourism is a crucial aspect. And cricket in India is like a religion," he said.