BCCI during its Special General Meeting, formally decided that the unfinished part of the Indian Premier League 2021 will be held in the United Arab Emirates.
The move to stage the IPL in the UAE was largely expected. As reported earlier, the BCCI has already had an informal agreement with the Emirates Cricket Board. The remainder of IPL 2021 has been moved to the UAE and BCCI has earmarked a window in September and October this year to conduct the matches.
BCCI Formally Decides To Stage The Remainder Of IPL 2021 In UAE
The formal decision was taken on Saturday (May 29) to move the remainder of IPL 2021 to the UAE – in view of the bad weather (monsoon) in India around September-October, when it wants to host the remaining 31 IPL games.
The biggest obstacle to host the tournament will be the non-availability of overseas players, and the Indian board has decided that the franchises will be told to take replacements, both from India and overseas, to refurbish their line-ups. England and Wales Cricket Board has already stated that it won’t release its players for the unfinished part of IPL while Cricket Australia is yet to come out with its position on the matter. A meeting with the IPL franchises will happen at some stage.
The spike of positive cases in the bio-bubble had already resulted in the postponement of two IPL games. Varun Chakravarthy, Sandeep Warrier (both KKR), Laxmipathy Balaji, Michael Hussey (both CSK coaches), Amit Mishra (Delhi), and Wriddiman Saha (Hyderabad) tested positive during IPL 2021 prompting organizers to indefinitely postpone IPL after 29 matches were held.
Later KKR’s Tim Seifert and Prasidh Krishna also tasted positive but all of them have hence recovered. Last year, the BCCI hosted the entire edition of the cash-rich tournament successfully in the Middle East, across three venues – Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai.
BCCI Seekd Time Till 1st Week Of July From ICC For Decision To Stage T20I World Cup In India
The board also decided to seek time till the first week of July from the International Cricket Council for a decision on staging the T20 World Cup in India. The ICC has slated its meeting on June 1 to decide on the matter, but the world body may have to defer the decision on moving the October 18-November 15 tournament out of India in view of the BCCI’s request. The BCCI thinks that it will explore all possibilities to host it in India itself.
During the meeting, it was also decided that the BCCI will pursue talks with the government over tax concession for the upcoming T20I World Cup, and it was calculated that the BCCI will have a liability of INR 900 crores if it failed to get the exemption. Considering the financial liability and the constantly evolving grieve Covid-19 situation in the country, the BCCI will take a call on staging the T20 World Cup. For the time being, it would tell the ICC to grant another month’s time.
Meanwhile, the issue regarding payments to domestic players, who were supposed to be compensated after several tournaments were not hosted, and was not discussed in the SGM. One of the associations even raised this issue for discussion but was turned down by Sourav Ganguly and Rajeev Shukla, stating that it was not a part of the agenda.
The meeting was also a huge assertion for Mohammed Azharuddin, who was allowed to attend it ahead of Shivlal Yadav, who in turn was nominated in a faction-ridden Annual General Meeting of the Hyderabad Cricket Association. The meeting, held virtually, decided to allow Mohammed Azharuddin after the legal department of the BCCI concluded that the claim of the former India captain is genuine.