The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking at the possibility of hosting this year's edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between September 25 and November 1, a source close to the development told IANS, provided the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control and travelling restrictions are eased in the near future.
Due to originally begin on March 29, the IPL 2020 remains indefinitely suspended at this stage because of the health crisis.
But with the amount of money at stake for all involved, the BCCI and IPL franchises have been hoping against hope to be able to find a new window for the tournament to be staged this year.
Ultimately, it all boils down to how early the pandemic gets over.
"It is still early days as a lot of other things have to fall in place for this to materialise, but yes, the BCCI is looking at a September 25-November 1 window provided the number of cases in the country come down and the government does give a go-ahead," the source said.
"As I said, a lot of things do need to fall in place, but yes, these dates are being talked about and contingency planning is on."
An official of one of the eight franchises confirmed that such a contingency idea has been discussed and said an autumn IPL will require another month's planning in terms of advertising and marketing.
"Yes, we have been told that we should plan with an eye on these dates and in fact, we are looking to plan our build-up in such a manner. But then again, it all depends on the country’s position with regards to the pandemic," the official said.
"There is no denying that we are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that the government will continue with the brilliant job they have done and we will see a drop in the number of cases per day."
But the new window is only feasible if the ICC decides to postpone its own showpiece event, the T20 World Cup, scheduled from October 18 to November 15 in Australia.
"We have been told about the window, but nothing yet on the venues or how to go about the logistics," said another IPL official.
"We need to understand those sides as part of the next step of preparation as foreign players will need to come in and we have to ensure that government directives with regards to fighting the pandemic are fully abided by."
"I am sure we will get more clarity as time moves forward as preparations will start say around mid-August if we have to play our first match around the end of September."
(Inputs from IANS)
