As COVID-19 or coronavirus is dominating the world as well as India, many events have been postponed, including the IPL 2020. While the IPL 2020 is in the danger of cancellation, Rajasthan Royals (RR) co-owner Manoj Badale is still expecting the 13th edition of IPL in this year but maybe in a short way.
The 13th edition of IPL was initially scheduled to be played between 29th March to 24th May 2020. But the coronavirus has forced to postpone this tournament till 15th April 2020. While the global situation hasn’t been controlled yet, the future of IPL 2020 is still doubtful.
Recently, Manoj Badale talked about the possibility of IPL 2020, where he still seemed very hopeful. While they have already talked with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the number of times, they are sure that the tournament is going to be further delay. However, he still believes that the tournament will be organised finally this year, even behind the closed doors.
Badale told BBC 5 Live, “As with the English Premier League, the atmosphere is a huge part of the spectacle, but, again, these are unprecedented times and sport needs to be put in the right perspective overall. If the way of ensuring the cricket economy survives is by playing behind closed doors, so be it.
“In India, the COVID phenomenon has only really just landed so when we have our owners’ conference calls, there’s still an expectation that there may be a way of the games being played in June. Personally I can’t see it happening until much later in the year. We have had a number of calls as owners with the BCCI to talk about what those plans might be, but it is clearly going to be postponed and it is unclear at this stage whether or not it takes place later this year.”
Badale also talked about there is a rare possibility to maintain the full schedule for the IPL 2020 due to the packed cricket schedule. Rather than, he pointed out the big possibility of the shorter tournament.
He claimed, “The cricket calendar is so packed. There are very few gaps especially for a seven-week tournament, so I suspect even if a gap can be found, it would have to be a shorter tournament.
“And the uniqueness of the IPL is it gets the very, very best around the world so it is not just a collaboration between the BCCI, the owners and the Indian government, you need the collaboration of the other cricket boards as well. Because what makes the IPL special is the presence of not just the Kohlis and the Dhonis, but also the Stokeses and the Warners and the Butlers.”
It is not just of importance to the Indians that the IPL 2020 takes place: Manoj Badale
Badale has also added that if there is the choice between no IPL or the domestic player-only IPL, he will choose the latter one. It clearly shows their desperate attitude to organise the IPL 2020.
He added, “I think we will have some form of tournament this year. It will probably be a shortened tournament. As long as people are prepared to be creative and as long as boards are prepared to work together collaboratively, it [IPL] is hugely important to the game of cricket. It is not just of importance to the Indians that the IPL takes place. If it was a choice of no IPL or a domestic player-only IPL I would choose the latter.”
Badale further talked about the reason why organising the IPL 2020 is so important. He opened up the bigger responsibility of this tournament.
He said, “It is important for the whole game. It is [important] economically for some of the best players in the world. It is economically meaningful for the event organisers and for the broadcasters that participate. So the trickle-down effect of a tournament as big as the IPL not taking place in terms of its impact on more than just the players but (also) all the people whose livelihoods depend on it is pretty significant. So we have a responsibility to try and find a way of playing it if we possibly can.”
Since its inauguration in 2008, the IPL has been organised uninterruptedly till 2019.