Reports: BCCI On Track To Host The T20 World Cup; England Likely To Stage The Remaining IPL Matches

A few days after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the BCCI to postpone IPL 2021 indefinitely, the board has taken a massive call on the tournament’s rescheduling. With four franchises reporting COVID-19 infections after 29 matches of the competition, the BCCI had no choice but to defer the competition until further notice. The Indian board has earmarked England as the frontrunner and wishes to host the T20 World Cup later this year.

The COVID-19 crisis began unfolding when on Monday (May 3), Kolkata Knight Riders’ two players tested positive for COVID-19. The news of Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier testing positive for the disease prompted the authorities to postpone their clash later in the day against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Ahmedabad. It got worse after SunRisers Hyderabad’s Wriddhiman Saha and Delhi Capitals’ Amit Mishra also tested positive a day later, with Chennai Super Kings’ few members reporting such instances.

While the raging pandemic has put the T20 World Cup in doubt for it to take place in India, a BCCI source claimed as per a Times Of India report that India remains the venue for hosting the T20 World Cup; however, if things go awry, they will take a call in June. They have also kept UAE as the backup option.

“Right now, India is the host venue for the World Cup. That’s how the Board is seeing it. If things go awry again, then a call will be taken only after the month of June. And yes, UAE is the second option,” the source stated.

BCCI and the ECB are in discussions to tweak the five-Test series: Sources

Sources have further claimed that the BCCI and England Cricket Board are in talks to mould the Test series between India and England, set to begin in August; however, the discussions are not public yet. The Indian cricket board wishes to host IPL in England since the counties can earn well from the same.

“BCCI and the ECB are in discussions to tweak the five-Test series. Details of those discussions aren’t public yet. But in whichever manner the ECB agrees to tweak the Test series, they will want the IPL in England because the counties can earn from it. There’ll be a good chance of a quid pro quo,” it added further.

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