Remainder Of IPL 2021 To Be Played From September 19 To October 15: Rajeev Shukla

Rajeev Shukla, the BCCI Vice-President has confirmed that the IPL 2021 will resume on September 19 and will run till October 15. Earlier the BCCI had announced that the remainder of the season will be held in the UAE in the September-October window, and now Rajeev Shukla himself has confirmed the dates.

The IPL 2021 was suspended by the board following the outbreak of the covid-19 in four franchises. The Delhi Capitals lead the points table after 29 matches were played at the time of the tournament’s suspension; 31 games, including the playoffs, will be conducted in the UAE.

The October 15 finish will make a hustle for the players as the T20 World Cup is expected to begin around October 18; dates haven’t been confirmed by the ICC though. On the little gap between the IPL and the T20 World Cup,  Rajeev Shukla opined that the small gap shouldn’t be a problem as the initial phase of T20 World is likely to involve non-Test playing nations.

 “IPL will be held between September 19 and October 15,” Rajeev Shukla told IANS on Wednesday.

“There should be no problem with the gap. The first phase of the T20 World Cup will comprise qualifiers [according to BCCI’s knowledge]. So the main teams like India and others will get sufficient gap,” he added.

There are 16 teams involved in the 2021 T20 World Cup – the five non-Test playing nations are Papua New Guinea, the Netherlands, Namibia, Scotland, and Oman. The other 11 are Test playing countries that include Afghanistan and Ireland too.

We will release the dates and venue of T20 World Cup only in July: ICC

The ICC has said that they will release the dates and venues of the T20 World Cup next month after talks with the BCCI, who have been reportedly given the deadline of June 28 to make their case of hosting the tourney in India. Otherwise, the ICC is keen on taking it to the UAE; they have also put Oman as a potential co-host.

Also, about the small gap between the IPL 2021 and the World Cup, the ICC that there was no rule of a mandatory gap between a domestic tournament and an ICC tournament. They would, however, need time to prepare the pitches and ground.

“We will release the dates and venue of T20 World Cup only in July. We cannot comment on it as of now. But there is no rule on the need of a gap ahead of an ICC event. The ICC needs 10 days to prepare the pitch and the ground ahead of an event. That too is a norm and not a rule,” said an ICC official.

“The rest of it is still being worked out between the BCCI and the ICC. We can talk about it only later,” the official added.

Also Read: IPL 2021: 5 Delhi Capitals (DC) Players Who Might Miss The UAE Leg Of The Tournament