The BCCI’s Apex Council meeting on Friday made one big decision, according to reports, that to most likely move the Indian Premier League out of India this year.
According to India Today, the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI are looking at having the IPL in the UAE this year, keeping in mind the growing number of coronavirus cases in India.
The IPL was originally scheduled to start in the last week of March but was suspended due to the nation-wide lockdown. Since then, due to the rapid spread of the virus in the country, the board has not been able to zero-in on a concrete plan for the T20 tournament.
The new dates of the tournament are now dependent on the ICC as the BCCI is looking at the window that is currently been slotted for the T20 World Cup, to host the IPL this year. T20 World Cup’s hosts Cricket Australia have already voiced their reluctance to stage the tournament, specially with it being a 16-team event.
If and when the ICC postpone the event, it leaves a one month window in which players from across the world will be free and can thus play the IPL. However, with the ICC playing the waiting game, the BCCI cannot officially announce their plans just yet.
"We cannot make an announcement till the ICC gives us a final call on the T20 World Cup. But we could see an official word after Monday's ICC meeting and once that is done, we can go ahead and make the necessary announcement," an official who was part of the meeting told IANS.
Focus on Domestic Cricket
According to IANS, domestic cricket dominated the discussion in the BCCI’s meeting as the fate of the domestic players in the country needs to be given priority with an eye on the coronavirus pandemic and its impact.
Speaking to IANS, an official who was part of the meeting said that the Apex Council members were united in the thought that the domestic fixture needs to be looked at immediately and a plan was discussed to go back to the old style of each team playing games in their own zones.
"We had a healthy discussion on the fate of domestic cricket and how we can go forward with an eye on the travel restrictions and the important health guidelines that have come into effect due to the pandemic. Although it is at a nascent stage, but it was discussed that we could go back to having teams playing Ranji Trophy games in their own zones rather than travelling across the country as that would be much easier in the current scenario," the official said.
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