The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking at options and possible new windows for the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to be eventually played when the nation hopefully overcomes the COVID-19 pandemic.
And a BCCI official says the board may find that window in October-November if the ICC decides to postpone the scheduled Men's T20 World Cup, given that Australia has sealed its borders for the next six months because of the deadly outbreak. The showpiece event is scheduled to be played from October 18 till November 15.
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"At present, there is a lockdown of borders and while Australia has said it is a potential six-month lockdown, things can change with an improvement in the scenario," the board official told IANS. "UK could follow the same pattern considering the spread of the pandemic. We are still to understand what the Indian government will decide with regards to closing the international borders."
"In such a scenario, the only window that looks safe is the October-November one. But again, that collides with the T20 World Cup."
"So, if the ICC does go ahead and decides to postpone the T20 World Cup due to the current scenario, only then we can look at the October-November window because even if a six-month border closedown is ordered by every country from say now, it ends by the start of October," the official added.
"But again, for that, the spread of the coronavirus needs to be stopped and things must come under human control. In short, there will have to be a lot of maths."
But the option of suspending the T20 World Cup could result in a logistical nightmare because the next edition of the event is scheduled for the following year in India.
"Again, it would be the last step for the ICC to push the T20 World Cup from 2020 to 2022 because there is no window in 2021," the official said.
"So, at the moment, it is all a bit too far-fetched to be honest. But yes, the October-November window has been spoken about for the IPL, but a lot of external factors need to fall into place for that to become a reality."
An ICC official, however, confirmed to IANS that there have been no talks of postponing its showpiece event yet.
"There have been no talks of any postponement to the World T20 that is to be held in October and November this year," the official said, reiterating the stance of Cricket Australia (CA) CEO Kevin Roberts who had recently said the planning for the tournament remains unchanged.
(Inputs from IANS)
