Hyderabad capable of hosting IPL matches, says Azharuddin

Azharuddin's remarks came at a time when several media reports claimed that Hyderabad may end up not making it to the list of BCCI's venues for high-octane IPL 2021.

Hyderabad: Former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin, the current president of Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), has thrown his weight behind Telangana IT minister KT Rama Rao's appeal to BCCI for selecting Hyderabad as one of the hosts for this year's IPL.

Azharuddin's remarks came at a time when several media reports claimed that Hyderabad may end up not making it to the list of BCCI's venues for high-octane IPL 2021.

He supported an appeal made by the Telangana minister and ruling TRS Working President KT Rama Rao to BCCI and IPL to include Hyderabad as one of the venues.

"I strongly support the appeal by @ktrtrs. Hyderabad is absolutely capable in handling and conducting @IPL as per @BCCI's directives and preparing a bio-secure bubble," Azharuddin tweeted.

Rama Rao, Minister for IT and Municipal Administration, on Sunday, appealed to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to include Hyderabad as one of the venues for the upcoming season of IPL.

The BCCI is looking at four to five venues for holding the next edition of the IPL with Mumbai as a single host not looking feasible anymore following a surge in COVID-19 cases in and around the city.

In a tweet, Rao said, "Open appeal to @BCCIand @IPL office bearers to include Hyderabad as one of the venues for upcoming IPL season Our effective COVID containment measures are reflected in our low number of cases among all metro cities in India & we assure you of all support from the Govt."

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) recorded 27 new COVID-19 cases out of the 176 reported in Telangana on Saturday, the state government has said.

The 14th edition of the league is scheduled to start in the second week of April.

The tournament had to be taken to the UAE last year because of the pandemic.