The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) is hatching a plan to host one Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Adelaide Oval in March 2027. The development comes after Cricket Australia (CA) approached the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to host the opening match of the 2026-27 Big Bash League (BBL) in Chennai.
According to SEN Cricket, SACA President and Chairman Will Rayner and Adelaide Oval Chairman Jamie Briggs have discussed the move to bring the IPL to Australia with several stakeholders.
IPL in Australia, BBL in India
Todd Greenberg, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the CA, was informed about the potential move during the 2025-26 Sheffield Shield final, which was hosted at the Adelaide Oval in late March. The idea is being floated as a reciprocal arrangement. The BCCI hasn’t been formally informed about it, but conversations are expected to start soon.
Adelaide Oval has already been confirmed as the host of the 2028 T20 World Cup final, which CA and New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will co-host in October and November in two years. It’s expected that an IPL match will sell out within minutes at the Adelaide Oval, which has a capacity of 53,500.
The match will attract thousands of tourists to Adelaide from all over the world. If big teams like the Chennai Super Kings or Royal Challengers Bengaluru, or big names like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, or MS Dhoni, arrive in Adelaide, you can expect a wild atmosphere. Tourism South Australia is already sold on the idea, considering the good it can do.
New precedent
If the BCCI agrees, it’ll be the first time the IPL travels outside of India, willingly. In the past, the biggest cricket league was moved to South Africa and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to uncontrollable situations like the COVID pandemic or elections.
| Season | Host Country | Duration | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | South Africa | Entire Tournament | Elections |
| 2014 | UAE | First 20 matches | Elections |
| 2020 | UAE | Entire Tournament | COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 | UAE | Last 31 matches | COVID-19 pandemic |
