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LONDON - London Mayor Sadiq Khan wants to bring the glitzy Indian Premier League to the British capital as he seeks to establish the city as the "undisputed sporting capital" of the world.
The 14th edition of the Twenty20 cricket tournament starts behind closed doors on Friday, with champions Mumbai Indians facing India captain Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Khan hopes future IPL matches could be played at London grounds such as Lord's and the Oval, the headquarters of county side Surrey.
"The IPL is a fantastic league but I'm desperate not just to see Kohli and others here when India come (to England) as they are this year but to see the likes of (MS) Dhoni, (Rohit) Sharma and (Jasprit) Bumrah come here on a regular basis," Khan said at a children's cricket training session in southwest London on Friday.
London has successfully staged a number of NFL, MLB and NBA events in the past and, with the backing of Surrey, Khan, who is running for re-election next month, wants to add the IPL to that list.
"I've said for some time that I would love London to keep its place as the sporting capital of the world," he said. "I want this to be the undisputed sporting capital of the world.
"We've had Major League Baseball, NFL for 10 years, you saw the impact of Joshua v Klitschko," added the mayor, citing the knock-on economic benefit to hotels, restaurants and bars of major sporting events.
"The other thing is that India is a massive investor in our city. We are the number one city in Europe that India invests in, we’re number two in the world after Dubai.
"Indians love cricket, we love cricket, we love Indians. We want this to be a bridge between India and London and Surrey deserve huge credit in being pioneers and with their vision to get IPL here." - AFP, April 14, 2021
