BCCI Could Lose Close To 40 Billion Rupees If IPL 2020 Does Not Take Place: Arun Dhumal

The onslaught of the coronavirus has had a devastating impact on every facet of life. And, the world of cricket is no different. Almost every high-profile tournament which also included its marquee franchise event outside of the international circuit, the start of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League has also been jeopardized.

The IPL was originally scheduled to start from the 29th of March but the onslaught of coronavirus meant that the tournament had to be called off for an indefinite period of time before the initial postponement that saw it get defer till April 15.

There is no clarity on whether the IPL will take place this year or not and if it doesn’t, it is set to leave a huge hole in the pocket of the BCCI. According to the BCCI treasurer, Arun Dhumal, the richest cricket board in the world could lose close to 40 billion rupees [$530 million] if the tournament gets called-off for the year 2020.

“The BCCI is looking at a big revenue loss. In case the IPL does not take place, the loss would be close to 40 billion rupees ($530 million), or even more. We are not sure whether we will be able to have it this year. We will only be able to figure out the exact revenue loss once we are sure of how many games we have lost.” Arun Dhumal told TOI.

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No plans of cutting down on the support staff: BCCI Treasurer Arun Dhumal

With no cricket taking place, member boards like Cricket Australia have already resorted to cost-cutting by relieving 80 percent of its staff. Dhumal said that no such thing is in the pipeline as far as BCCI is concerned.

“That would be the last thing that we would want to do at our end. That is why we are working (on) how much is the loss finally we have to pay. So once we are able to assess that then we might consider it, but it will be the last thing on our agenda.” Dhumal said.

Dhumal had recently said that the Indian players would be ready for a two-week quarantine leading into the Australian Test series but he added that it would only apply if the T20 World Cup is canceled.

“In case we are already there for the T20 World Cup then there is no question of quarantine because we will already have been there for a month or so. Cricket Australia are also not in a position to come up with something concrete. A lot will depend on the government and the travel bans in place. Let’s see how they go about it.” he added.

India’s next international assignment is a series of white-ball games in Sri Lanka but given the current situation, it looks highly unlikely that the series will go ahead.

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