Hyderabad: India pacer Jaydev Unadkat, who was bought by Rajasthan Royals for INR 3 crore in last year's IPL, said that he does not mind if the next edition of the cash-rich league takes place outside India. The latest edition of the IPL was slated to commence from March 29, however, the tournament has been suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In an interaction with media, Unadkat said that if the tournament goes ahead outside India, it would just be a one-off and everyone will be happy that sport is resuming in some form.
"To be honest, as a cricketer I am just waiting for the sport to start, the IPL can take place in India or it can take place out of India, in any case, safety and health of players should be the first priority, I think that if the concerned authorities feel that hosting the IPL outside of India will provide more safety and it will be more viable, then they should go ahead with it because everyone is waiting for the sport to start in some form," Unadkat told media.
"We should not really worry about anything apart from resuming the sport if IPL takes place outside India this year, it would just be a one-off and it would not be repeated in the future, we all need to deal with it, I do not mind IPL happening outside India, I am really optimistic of IPL taking place this year," he added.
In the IPL auction for the 2020 edition, Unadkat was bought by Rajasthan Royals for INR 3 crore.
The pacer has scalped 77 wickets from 73 matches in his IPL career.
Earlier this month, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said it can host the IPL behind closed doors if the situation demands it. The board also said that it is working on all possible options to stage the tournament this year.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had stated the intention of going ahead with IPL this year in his letter to all affiliated members of the cricketing body.
The letter stated: "The BCCI is working on all possible options to ensure that we are able to stage the IPL this year, even if it means playing the tournament in empty stadiums".
It is being speculated that the tournament might be played in the October-November window if the ICC decides to postpone the T20 World Cup.
