Sourav Ganguly, BCCI president has said the board will face losses amounting to about Rs 2,500 crore if the remaining matches of IPL 2021 are not completed.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly on Thursday opened up on the resumption of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 later this year. He also revealed the board is staring at a staggering loss if the remaining matches of the tournament are not completed this year.
Sourav Ganguly: BCCI To Speak To Other Boards And See Whether A Window Can Be Made Available Before The T20 World Cup
Sourav Ganguly said the board is looking at a window before the T20 World Cup this year to complete the remainder of the IPL 2021 season. The league was suspended on Tuesday (May 04) after a string of fresh COVID-19 cases were reported across the bio-bubbles of four teams. A total of 4 players ( 2 from Kolkata Knight Riders, and one each from Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals) tested positive along with support staff at the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Sourav Ganguly said BCCI will be talking to the board of the other countries to zero in on a slot later this year. He also stated that the board is staring at losses to the tune of around Rs 2,500 crore if the remaining games are not completed this year.
“There has got to be a lot of shuffling. Only a day has passed since we suspended the IPL. We have to speak to other boards and see if a window can be made available before the T20 World Cup,” Ganguly told The Telegraph.
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.
Sourav Ganguly: If BCCI Fail To Complete IPL, Loss Incurred Will Be Close To Rs. 2500 Crores According To Early Estimates
The sudden postponement of the IPL, combined with the situation in the country, has forced BCCI into looking at other options for the resumption of the tournament. Last year, the BCCI hosted the entire edition of IPL 2020 in UAE across three venues – Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai – which could serve as a potential venue this year as well. The second option that is being explored is to stage the remaining season at the backend of the English season. The third option is to barter the hosting rights of the T20 World Cup with Australia.
“Lot of things are involved and we will slowly start working on them. If we fail to complete the IPL, the loss will be close to INR 2500 crore (USD 340 million approx). That is going by early estimates,” he added.
IPL 2021 was scheduled to conclude on May 30 but the tournament had to be halted after just 29 matches due to COVID-19. Last year, the full season of IPL was conducted smoothly in the UAE despite the pandemic and the BCCI is likely to take the same route once again this year to complete the remaining IPL 2021 matches.
IPL Governing Council chairman, Brijesh Patel, has confirmed that the BCCI is looking at pre and post-T20 World Cup windows to organize the remaining IPL 2021 games. A group of counties in England has also expressed interest in hosting the remainder of the IPL 2021 season and has written to the ECB to extend their proposal to the BCCI.