The IPL might be taking place later this year but it is almost certain to be a less extravagant affair than before

No matter what your opinion about Lalit Modi, the fact of the matter is that with the Indian Premier League (IPL), he managed to create a globally competitive and recognised sports league. So much so that the IPL is the world’s top franchise-based cricket league and one must keep in mind that China, for all its success in creating brands, has failed in creating a global sports league. That said, as sports have been ravaged, thanks to China’s gift to the world, the Coronavirus, the IPL also fell a victim, missing its scheduled slot at the start of the Indian summer. But now sports — from Formula 1 to football — have returned to television screens and spectator-less formats. Even cricket has restarted in England in the safety of a “bio bubble.” So the IPL is looking at playing its season in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this winter, or at least has plans of playing.

The UAE, thanks to its relatively compact size that eliminates the need for connecting flights, its close location to India — being away by just 90 minutes of flying time — and large availability of remote resorts, where teams can be sequestered between matches, as well as more than enough cricket stadia, should make the IPL pretty easy to manage. However, whether the IPL will be played with the audience in attendance remains to be seen. The UAE — despite its economy being ravaged by the pandemic and sending hundreds of thousands of expatriate workers from India home — still has a huge base of workers from the sub-continent. Tens of thousands of fans can easily be found to fill the stadia in the UAE replete with their IPL uniforms and tribal loyalties. But will the sponsors bite? The huge player salaries guaranteed by television revenues and on-field sponsors might make things difficult for the teams. Already, the principal sponsor of the IPL has withdrawn because of the ongoing anti-Chinese sentiment in India. While Baba Ramdev-promoted Patanjali wants to sponsor the IPL, will the brash cricket league want to associate with it? Teams will also find it difficult to find jersey sponsors and broadcasters might find it equally difficult to get sponsors on television broadcasts. Conversely, the IPL could be the firestarter the Indian market really needs. Maybe it will drive consumerism again and awaken our economy, which was waylaid by a poisonous scale of the Chinese dragon. The cricket bat can be more effective in beating back the dragon than a French fighter plane or five.