I read a few articles where the columnists were very critical about the "Indian" Premier League in South Africa. Almost everyone criticized the BCCI of being stubborn and money minded as they owned the TV rights and earned tremendous amount of money. The main reason for the change in venue was because the IPL schedule clashed with the parliament elections and the state governments could not provide logistics for the security of the players. And after what happened to the Sri lankan team in Pakistan and the mumbai terror attacks, the BCCI didn't want to take risks. So, I partially agree to the logic of their decision to "outsource" the IPL.
But what can we gain from it?
There are many young players in the IPL and they would get good exposure and experience playing in bouncy, fast tracks which they are not used to. They could also learn a great deal from other experienced players on how to play well on such tracks and this would definitely help India build a good team for the future.
That's one huge plus I could think of.
Other than that, I have been talking to some of my friends back in India and they say that the excitement is not the same anymore and they do not feel that connected this year... understandable! But I really hope that the next edition is held in India and looking forward to see the Mumbai Indians this time around.
