Former Australian skipper Ian Chappell believes the Board of Control for Cricket in India will win and the Indian board will be able to host the IPL in place of the T20 World Cup. There are reports surfacing that the IPL is all set to replace T20 World Cup, which was set to be played in October-November. The final call on the T20 World Cup is expected to be taken in the ICC General board meeting on May 28.
There is no doubt that BCCI has its monopoly in the cricket world but former Australian skipper Allan Border feels it will send a wrong message if IPL is hosted in place of the T20 World Cup. On the other hand, Chappell feels the chances of the T20 World Cup happening now are slim.
BCCI will have their way – Ian Chappell.
“The first thing you know is that the BCCI will win,” Chappell told Wide World of Sports.
“They’ll get their way if they want to play in October. At this point it appears to me that the chances of the T20 World Cup going ahead are somewhere between Buckley’s and none.
There is no doubt that staging a global event is a difficult job for the organizers from the logistical point of view. 15 teams will need to travel to Australia and it is going to be difficult to manage. Thus, there are good chances that the T20 World Cup will be postponed.
“With so many countries, I just think it would be logistically way too difficult, but that’s purely a cricketer talking, not a medical person or someone with experience running a tournament like that.
“But it seems to me with 16 teams to worry about it’s probably going to be too hard, and if the BCCI want the IPL to take that slot they’ll probably get their way,” he added.
On the other hand, BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal had confirmed that the Indian board will not push for the postponement of the T20 World Cup in order to host the IPL. Dhumal had added that it would be ICC and Cricket Australia’s decision to take and the Australian government will have a huge role to play. The Australian government has barred the travel restriction till mid-September.