BCCI Planning To Host Full IPL 2020 In July-September: Report
Published - 18 Mar 2020, 11:44 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:04 AM
With uncertainty lingering over the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the BCCI is reportedly planning to go all out to make sure that the tournament takes place this year. Last week, the Indian cricket board suspended the IPL till April 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
As things stand, there is no clarity at all over over whether the competition would start in April. But the BCCI is in no mood to give up on its hopes of conducting the IPL and is reportedly planning to stage the tournament in July-September if things do not improve in the coming days.
Until Saturday, when the franchise owners had met the office-bearers of BCCI and governing council members of the IPL to discuss the matter, playing a truncated league within a delayed, shortened window looked like the designated ‘Plan B’. But according to the Times of India, the BCCI do not want to conduct a truncated IPL. The BCCI want all the 60 matches, if not now then later, if not in India then overseas, if not with all the available players then some.
The Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the year 2020 does give the BCCI a window to host the tournament in July-September. During those two months, all the major teams barring England and Pakistan do not have a packed schedule. Pakistan players are not allowed in the IPL anyway.
The Asia Cup in September could make things tricky for India who are also set to visit Sri Lanka in June/July for a short ODI and T20I series. The BCCI is currently planning on how to tweak the schedule.
“The 2009 IPL – in South Africa – was played inside 37 days. That’s five weeks and two days. If that kind of a window is made available, the IPL can be held partly in India and partly overseas, or the entire tournament can be shifted, depending on how the Covid-19 situation is globally,” a source in the know of things told the Times of India.
Talking about cricket in general, all the major events in the game have been called off or postponed due to the pandemic. Only time will tell how things unfold in the coming days.
Also Read: Ravi Bopara Recommends A Cheeky Solution To Determine The PSL Champions
Tagged:
BCCI Indian Premier League (IPL)
