Amid coronavirus fears, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had earlier postponed the cash-rich Indian Premier League till April 15. With lack of clarity over the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the BCCI is reportedly planning to go all out to ensure that the tournament takes place this year.
As of now, there is no confirmation of whether or not the competition would kick-off in April. But India’s governing body, BCCI is not giving up its hopes of hosting IPL and is reportedly planning to conduct the tournament in July-September if there is no improvement in the situation in the coming days.
Until Saturday, when the franchise owners met with the BCCI office-bearers and the governing council members of the IPL in a bid to discuss the matter, playing the shortest version of the league within a delayed, shortened window looked like ‘Plan B’.
But as per the Times of India, the BCCI do not want to host the IPL.
The Indian cricket body wants all the 60 matches to be held in future period if not for now. In case, it is not held in India then it will be held in overseas and if not with the availability of all players then with some.
BCCI to host full IPL in July-September
Moreover, the Future Tours Programme (FTP) for 2020 does give the BCCI a window to conduct the tournament in July-September.
During those two months, all the major teams except England and Pakistan do not have a hectic schedule. In fact, Pakistan players are not permitted to play in the IPL anyway.
The Asia Cup which is scheduled to be held 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 now planning on how to improve or make adjustments on 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.
It is cognisance of the fact that the novel coronavirus pandemic has sabotaged the international calendar of various sporting events all across the world.