IPL 2020: The upcoming season of the Indian Premier League is one of the world-class tournaments that have been canceled and postponed due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus all around the world. Recently, the Board of Control For Cricket In India announced the suspension of the much-awaited season of the Indian Premier League till April 15. It was earlier slated to start from March 29.
Though a lot of possibilities are being taken under consideration like playing behind the doors, conducting the entire tournament in a single city, to taking ‘n’ number of measures in order to stop the outbreak of Coronavirus, but it is still not clear that the tournament will take place or not.
Meanwhile, as per the latest updates, a section of the BCCI committee feels that the regular ‘April-May’ window could be tricky as there is no assurance when will Coronavirus’ effect waning and therefore, the committee is looking out for possibilities to host the IPL 2020 between July-September, as there are no important series scheduled during this window.
Talking about the schedule of ‘July-September’, England will be hosting the Pakistan cricket team for a full series and the Asia Cup is scheduled between these months as well. As far as the Indian cricket team is concerned, they will be seen playing three ODIs and as many T20Is in Sri Lanka (June/July). Thus, there are full chances of hosting 60 matches instead of cutting the tournament shorter.
Back in the year 2009, the IPL session was held in South Africa and was completed inside 37 days. BCCI could be looking out for this option as well, but this is a less explored reason. A BCCI official was quoted by Times Of India, where he revealed:
“The 2009 IPL – in South Africa – was played inside 37 days. That’s five weeks and two days. If that kind of a window is made available, the IPL can be held partly in India and partly overseas, or the entire tournament can be shifted, depending on how the Covid-19 situation is globally,”
