South Africa and Sri Lanka are in contention to host the 2022 Indian Premier League should the Covid-19 situation in India deteriorate further.

South Africa last hosted the IPL in 2009 when the tournament coincided with the multi-phase Indian general elections.

“India has recently faced 200,000 new cases a day, so we and Sri Lanka are on alert,” Pholetsi Moseki, acting chief executive of CSA, told Rapport newspaper on Monday. “We hope to have more clarity by the end of this week.”

Moseki told Rapport that the Indians, who are playing the last match of their tour at Newlands on Sunday, are very pleased with CSA’s Covid 19 measures. This boosted South Africa’s chances of hosting the 2022 IPL, should it be necessary.

“They were very satisfied with the logistical arrangements. It was not like at the Ashes where there were all sorts of concerns. We did not have a single Covid case while they were here, so we are very happy with how things worked out.”