Coronavirus Impact: From A New Format To Matches Behind Closed Doors - All Likely Possibilities For IPL 2020

Cricket looks set to be the latest sports that will be affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The outbreak has already affected a huge number of sporting fixtures across the globe and it is now threatening to affect cricket too. On Thursday, the Road Safety World Series was called off.

Prior to that, the Bangladesh Cricket Board had postponed the two-match T20I series between Asia XI and World XI. Nepal’s Everest Premier League was also postponed while the inaugural Africa T20 Cup was called off. In other developments, the India-South Africa and Australia-New Zealand ODI series will be played behind closed doors.

With things not looking promising at the moment, all eyes are now on the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The IPL governing council will hold a meeting later this week and a final call on the fate of the competition is expected soon.

The league is scheduled to start on March 29 with defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on Chennai Super Kings in the tournament-opener. As the cricket world waits to learn the fate of the IPL, we take a look at the four possibilities regarding the fate of the thirteenth edition of the IPL.

IPL behind closed doors:

As of now, IPL behind closed doors looks like the biggest possibility. The stakeholders of the league are in no mood for the cancellation of the league and the BCCI might agree to hold the tournament without permitting the fans to watch the games from the stands.

While the absence of the fans will definitely take some shine off the league, the move will be the least detrimental as far as the revenues are concerned.

Postponement:

The BCCI could also decide to hold the league at a later date. One cannot rule out the possibility of the postponement especially after the Indian government’s latest decision on visa restriction. Barring a few exceptions, no one will get a visa to arrive in India till April 15.

In such a case, the overseas players would not be allowed to play in the IPL at least till April 15. It is highly unlikely that the franchises would be willing for the tournament to go ahead without the overseas players and thus the league could get postponed.

A different format:

The BCCI could also come up with a different and shorter format to make sure that the league takes place. In such a scenario, the teams could be divided into two groups of four and the top two teams from each group make it to semifinals followed by the final.

Cancellation:

The way things are panning out at the moment, it would not be at all surprising if the IPL is totally cancelled. Things are not looking promising at the moment and the signs are that it would only worsen in the coming days. Unless there is some significant improvement in the situation, one does not really see IPL not getting affected. What makes things even worse for the BCCI is the busy schedule in international cricket. While postponing the league is an option, the BCCI would hardly get a window for the IPL at a later date.