T20 World Cup 2020 was officially postponed on Monday leaving a favourable window for BCCI to stage this year’s India Premier League (IPL), which was indefinitely suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. ICC’s decision to postpone the T20 World Cup, which was scheduled to be held in Australia later this year, has left the October-November window open for the organisers to stage the franchise T20 tournament. The hosting country though is still uncertain with India unlikely to host the IPL this year due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases. .
The BCCI had earlier reportedly decided on a tentative schedule for IPL 2020 with the league to begin on September 26 and conclude on November 8. But while the postponement or cancellation of the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 was known, it was yet to be officially announced by the ICC, which it did after IBC board meeting on Monday. .
The ICC announced that the T20 World Cup 2020 has now been postponed by a year and will next be held in 2021. It also announced that a T20 World Cup will be held in 2022 – a year before the 2023 men’s 50-over cricket World Cup in India. The board, however, refrained from confirming whether the next year’s T20 World Cup (which is actually scheduled to be held in India) will be hosted by Australia and the subsequent edition in India or vice versa.
But the cancellation will certainly be good news for Indian and IPL cricket fans with the BCCI now getting an additional timeframe of eight weeks to host the tournament. Earlier, the BCCI had eyed a shortened 5-6 weeks window between September and November to stage the tournament. The postponement of the T20 World Cup, however, gives them enough time between September and November to stage the cash-rich franchise T20 league.
Meanwhile, according to a Times of India report, the BCCI and organisers could face stumbling block from the broadcasters Star Network, who wants the IPL to at least run till the Diwali week so that it can cash on the festive weekend and are also against afternoon matches, which automatically decreases view ratings of matches.
But to run the tournament for that long will invariably affect India’s preparation for the Australia tour, which is set to begin on December 3, 2020. Under the latest circumstances, the players must at least travel three weeks before the series so that they can be tested, be in quarantine and also prepare well for the series. The dates are yet to be announced but could be expected soon now that the T20 World Cup is postponed.
BCCI must also decide on the hosting nation with India almost certainly out of the reckoning. With the number of cases rising daily, it was 1.12 million on Monday, it was initially decided that the franchise T20 league will be held in twin cities under a bio-secure bubble. But that option is now said to out of thought with all cities experiences a regular rapid rise in cases. Sri Lanka and UAE are the two countries that have applied to host IPL 2020, with UAE looking more likely.
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