After its board meeting on June 10, the International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to continue exploring different contingency plans for the future of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020.
Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is going ahead with its plans to organise the 13th edition of IPL later this year.
As per a TOI report, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, in a letter to the state associations, has stated that the board will shortly take a call on the future course of action.
"The BCCI is working on all possible options to ensure that we are able to stage the IPL this year, even if it means playing the tournament in empty stadiums. The fans, franchisees, players, broadcasters, sponsors and all other stakeholders are keenly looking forward to the possibility of IPL being hosted this year," Ganguly's letter, which is in possession of TOI, read.
"Recently a lot of players, both from India and other countries, participating in IPL have also shown their keenness on being a part of this year IPL. We are optimistic and the BCCI will shortly decide on the future course of action on this," the letter added.
The BCCI's planning has been hindered by the uncertainty over the T20 World Cup, which is slated to be held in Australia from October 18 to November 15 as of today.
The Indian board was waiting for ICC's meeting on Wednesday to find out if they got a clear window for its home season, starting with IPL.
According to TOI, the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for resumption of cricket in India have been finalized but the officials are yet to approve it.
"Essentially this SOP is being made with a view of providing our Members with a standard set of guidelines which will help the Associations to resume cricket in their respective areas. The BCCI has engaged medical specialists for the drafting of this SOP," the letter further reads.
(With TOI inputs)
