BCCI has reportedly fixed a window for conducting IPL this year as it has began planning for the annual league after it was suspended indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
IPL could get underway from September 26 with the final on November 8.
While a formal decision regarding this is yet to be made, the BCCI has held informal discussions with the franchises.
According to Mumbai Mirror, the tournament may be held in limited venues. Mumbai was the board’s first choice because of the infrastructure but since the coronavirus situation in Maharashtra has gotten worse, it has been forced to rethink.
Should the September-November window be final, the likely venues could be in South India viz. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. There won’t be any issue of stadium sizes as the matches are planned to be played behind closed doors.
However, all this depends on whether the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to get underway from October 18 in Australia, gets cancelled this year. Several media reports claim that Cricket Australia isn’t too keen on hosting the global event and is rather more interesting in the bilateral series against India.
Another hurdle that IPL may be to cross is Asia Cup. A decision regarding the biennial event is yet to be made and should it be held this year, the IPL will have to be a truncated event.
While BCCI is against the tournament this year, the daily reports that not everyone inside the board holds that view.
Meanwhile, the Indian cricket board is also taking into account the additional cost of creating a bio-secure environment in its budgeting for IPL 13. The BCCI may have to book an entire hotel rather than rooms apart from implementing strict personal hygiene measures and keeping chartered flights on standby.
Also read : BCCI Called-Off India Tour of Sri Lanka And Zimbabwe Amid COVID-19 Threat
