Mallya preferred England as IPL host

Liquor baron and owner of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, Vijay Mallya, has said that he would have preferred England to host the second season of the Indian Premier League.

London, Mar 25 : Liquor baron and owner of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, Vijay Mallya, has said that he would have preferred England to host the second season of the Indian Premier League.

The Twenty20 competition was moved out of India because of a clash of dates with general elections and the IPL organisers sealed a deal to organise the event in South Africa.

"To be honest, I would have preferred England to South Africa," the Daily Express quoted Mallya, as saying.

Mallya agreed that there is a huge possibility of rain disruptions; but he believed the tournament would have drawn bigger crowds in England.

"You could have taken just one flight from five or six cities in India to England and it would have been cheaper. Besides, an average Englishman loves his cricket and the stands there would have been full of spectators. But, I guess the weather conditions clinched the issue for South Africa," he said.

"In England, there were chances that matches would have been rained off and teams sharing points affects the competitiveness of the event," Mallya added.

The Bangalore Royal Challengers have five South African players in their squad - Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Dillon Du Preez and Roelof van der Merwe - and Mallya is hoping that would prove an advantage.

ANI