The eight IPL franchise owners, the IPL governing council and the top brass of BCCI met in the Board of Control for Cricket in India headquarters on Saturday to discuss the future of the upcoming Indian Premier League 2020, which was recently postponed to April 15 due to coronavirus outbreak.
The IPL 13 was supposed to start on March 29 with defending champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings taking on each other at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. But this deadly outbreak of COVID-19 virus led to Maharashtra government banning the sale of tickets, with Karnataka and Delhi governments putting a ban on any sporting activities.
The meeting, which was attended by Bollywood megastar and Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) principal owner, Shah Rukh Khan as well, was undertaken in order to discuss options for the IPL 2020 season. After an hour-long meeting with BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah, it was decided that they will wait till the 'last week of March' for a clearer picture.
"There were six to seven options discussed during the meeting between team owners and BCCI including a curtailed IPL," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity after the meeting here.
"The board will continue to monitor and work closely with Government of India, state governments and other state regulatory bodies to decide on the future course of action in the best interest of public health," BCCI, in a statement, reiterated its stand of putting safety and well-being of fans, athletes and employees as a priority.
In other options, franchise owners also mentioned the possibility of extending the window to May 31. It has been learnt that the Board will speak to other overseas cricket bodies to decide in case the window can be extended at least until the first week of June.
"We have been informed that the league can maximum be extended up to May 31. It's not clear on how things will pan out, but as of now, we are looking at every possible option," one of the franchise owners said.
Also indicated were increasing the number of doubleheaders to accommodate the 60 matches in a short span of time, as the tournament is slated to begin 18 days late. "The idea was to basically sit together and find out what could be the possibilities. Things are not clear as of now, so all the franchises discussed on what could be the possible approach in various situations," the franchise boss said.
With restrictions being imposed on visas for overseas players and support staff, teams have called off their scheduled practice sessions and for Kings XI Punjab, overseas support staff -- including fielding coach Jonty Rhodes -- have gone back home.
Delhi Capitals owner, Parth Jindal said,” Health and safety of the public is the most important thing and of paramount importance. As things progress and evolve, BCCI will call for another meeting to discuss all the options."
The IPL Governing Council is scheduled to meet later in the afternoon for another round of discussion.
(Sportstar and PTI inputs)
