IPL 7 a sellout in UAE, says Sunil Gavaskar

FILE PHOTO: Sunil Gavaskar says the IPL has been a ‘sellout’ in UAE

The shift of IPL from India to UAE for the first leg was not such a bad idea after all. With just two games remaining in the UAE leg of the IPL, Sunil Gavaskar who has been appointed to look after the IPL affairs by the Supreme Court, has revealed that the tournament has been a sellout and a huge success.

“We have been absolutely blown away by the crowds, even for the 2:30 p.m. [local time] games. We initially thought 6:30 p.m. games wouldn’t be an issue but 19 out of 20 games have been sellouts, so that’s a sign of how the IPL has caught the imagination of people here,” the acting BCCI President was quoted by IBNLive.

“The viewership for the opening match was bigger than in 2013 – 4.4 versus 4.1 ratings. When compared to the first seven days of last season, the online viewership has doubled – 12 million compared to 6 million.” he added to support his statement with numbers.

“The page views on the website has been 50 per cent higher till April 26 – 89 million page views. On Facebook page, we have had 6 million likes. At the end of 2013, it was at 3.3 million. On Twitter, we have 1.4 million followers, up from from 1 million last year, making it the first Indian brand to achieve this,” the proud former Indian captain said.

On being asked about why UAE was chosen over other venues, he said, “It [UAE] is an option that we will always have, not just to the UAE, but other neighbouring countries. The timing is crucial because of the telecast angle being so important, also the weather. I gather one of the reasons Sri Lanka wasn’t there was because of the monsoons. Bangladesh had just had the Asia Cup and the World T20, and we were concerned that the pitches would be tired,”

The 64-year-old was full of praises about the UAE. “The pitches here have been excellent. There’s been enough in it for quick bowlers; it hasn’t been a one-sided contest. The size of the grounds makes a difference to the franchises. Ticket sales earn the franchises money. These are all factors when we think about taking the tournament out of India.” he signed off.