Lalit Modi in a press conference hosted by IPL and CSA said that the South African economy would benefit enormously staging the tournament. "At any given point of time, we have 10,000 people working on this tournament" He said. "South Africa will be benefited a lot. We will be consuming 30,000 rooms in hotels and 10,000 airline tickets for the purpose of this tournament. Irrespective of the cost, we are happy to go forward in incurring the cost because cricket is very important for us, and all our club owners are with us" He added.
CSA cheif,Geranld Majola, agreed to the fact that the benefits played a significant role in teh decision to play host to the IPL. "Our economy will be benefitted, we will get a lot of money." said Geranld Majola, CEO of the South African Cricket board. "More than the money, it was that our friends, the BCCI, who we share good relations with were in trouble. They asked us to bail them out of the situation and we decided to help. We have a good relationship and the motivating factor was the friendship we share" added Geranld Majola.
Modi thanked the ECB for their supportive hand, and also informed that it was more to do with the wether in England suring April-May that played a pert in the decision making. "It's cold and wet in England during this season, South Africa has a pleasant climate" said Modi. "Logistically both parties are of the highest quality, The wether is the key" added Modi.
Was it only the weather that took it away? Here are some key points that could have played against England..
First the Weather, Yes the Weather is cold and wet out in England at this time. Statistically 60 percent of the matches would have been washed out if hosted in England. But if you go by the weathermen in England, it's not going to rain, of course it will be cold and a little difficult for the players and the spectators.
The presence of the Indian audience in England is much higher than South Africa, A statistic goes, 2.25 people out of 10 people in England are Indians as against a mere 1.75 in South Africa. So this one goes into England's favor.
Logistically both countries cannot be compared. All the needs of IPL could have been met by both parties without doubt. In comparison, The hotels and travel in England would have costed more than what it would in South Africa. We already know that IPL has suggested shelling out most of the extra expenses from their pocket, therefore in an effort tot save more money, SA should have been a preferred venue. If player concern was an issue, England could have come out in front given the less traveling around the country. Security is of the highest quality in both countries, SA leads 2-1.
Support from the South African Government makes it 3-1 to South Africa. The Government of South Africa has announced presenting visa's to people around the world who wish to travel to the country for the IPL. The government has also lended full support to the BCCI for anything and everything to play it in their favor. Not that England has not tried in this department, but this one went to SA when the Airlines in SA confirmed offering the flights of highest quality for travel between cities in the country to the players, officials and the spectators.
A lot of county matches are already scheduled in England and the non availability of grounds as aginst setting aside 6 venues from SA hands this one to SA too. Making it 4-1 for SA. The final issue that handed the ball to the South Africans was the television rights issue. ECB currently has sold the rights to Sky TV for matches played in England and outside of England for england. If IPL was to be held in England, BCCI would have had issues with Sony which has exclusive telecast rights for DLF IPL around the world. SA has no such problems with any telecast rights.
SA emerged clear winners in this regard when Mr.Modi said,"We would like to thank Cricket South Africa very much for the support they have given us over the past few days, which has helped us to come to this decision. The South African public loves T20 cricket and CSA successfully hosted the inaugural ICC World T20. Both these factors weighed heavily in South Africa's favor, and we look forward to a successful and exciting tournament being held at venues throughout South Africa." . Having successfully hosted the Inaugural edition of ICC T20 world cup in 2007, SA have now announced their presence to the world. England will now avail their chance as they host the second edition of the T20 world cup in June this year.
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Kunal
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