London: Indian cricket board will be risking Indian Premier League's (IPL) brand value if it holds remainder of cash-rich tournament in September in England since rain can leave matches truncated, said former England spinner Monty Panesar.
India will end their five-match Test series in England on September 14 and there have been talks that month-long window between end of that series and T20 World Cup could be ideal to host the remaining 31 matches of IPL, which was postponed this month due to Covid-19 cases in four franchises.
"IPL shouldn't be held in England in September because it will rain a lot there. Too many intervals will spoil the fun," said the former left-arm spinner on a Youtube show.
"If India are not able to control the pandemic, it should be held in UAE because weather conditions play a huge factor," added the bowler who played a key role in England winning the Test series in India 2-1 in 2012-13.
"When it rains in England, it plays spoilsport. You will see a T20 match get reduced to 15 overs and then 10 overs. We don't want that to happen with IPL because the brand will take a hit," added Panesar.
"The biggest thing in favour of IPL is that there are completed games in it. There is a lot of excitement in IPL games between 15th and 20th overs as that phase is pretty high-scoring. Authorities should take weather into account while deciding fixtures. Weather in UAE is great," said Panesar.
Read: Assessing conditions will be key to batting in England: Gill
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has apparently made an informal request to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to advance the Test series by a week to provide a window. However, that is unlikely to happen. The BCCI has an option to hold the tournament in UAE in the month-long gap between India's series in England and the T20 World Cup.