The current Mayor of London Sadiq Khan who is contesting for a second term in the Mayoral election on the 6th of May has said that he will work with the cricket authorities to try and host group stage matches in London.
The Kia Oval and the Lord’s are the two regular international venues in the capital city for England. In his re-election campaign, Khan admitted that he wants to make London better after the pandemic and getting the IPL to London is a part of his plan. It is also understood that the England and Wales Cricket Board would support such a plan and move.
This is part of my plan to build a better London after the pandemic. I know Londoners are hungry to see more of the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant and, with two of the world’s greatest cricket grounds in Lord’s and The Kia Oval, London is ideally placed to host IPL matches. The absence of live crowds at elite competitions has been hard for many sport-loving Londoners but I know we can build a better, more open and prosperous city after the pandemic and see our capital confirmed as the undisputed sporting capital of the world
Khan was quoted saying in a press release.
London has previously hosted regular season games of the NFL and Major League Baseball. NFL does have a 10-year agreement to play a few matches at Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium.
