This year's edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is greatly uncertain at this stage because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to originally kickstart on March 29, IPL 2020 remains indefinitely postponed because of the deadly outbreak, which has led to an unprecedented health crisis in the country and the entire world.
Speculations, though, have been rife that if the ICC decides to shift the T20 World Cup, scheduled for October-November in Australia in wake of the logistical challenges, the IPL's 13th season can replace it in that window, provided the pandemic is controlled.
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Former India captain and batting legend, Sunil Gavaskar, however, reckons in that eventuality, the BCCI can look to take the tournament, perhaps its shortened version, to another country on safety grounds, as Sri Lanka and UAE, recovering better from the crisis and seeing travelling restrictions get lifted on a larger scale, have already offered to play host.
"If the IPL is held in Sri Lanka from September then it might be possible," said Gavaskar on India Today's 'Salaam Cricket 2020'. "If you play somewhere overseas then the home and away factor won't be there."
"So instead of the 14 matches per team, the tournament will be reduced to maybe 7 matches per team. That might be possible and only then maybe the IPL can happen. Then we can have IPL in September-October, not in India because there can be monsoon at that time. Maybe, Sri Lanka or UAE can host the IPL."
However, even though the ICC has further deferred a final decision on the fate of the T20 World Cup, the Australian government has expressed confidence of hosting the showpiece event on time in the country where the health crisis has been dealt well, with the number of positive cases quite low.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said Australia will allow crowds of up to 10,000 at small stadiums to watch sport as part of plans to ease social distancing restrictions in July.
"After hearing what the Australian govt said, it seems like the T20 World Cup can happen," said Gavaskar. "Players will have to reach Australia earlier than usual for the 14-day quarantine period and then for the practice matches."
"If the ICC accepts that the tournament will have to happen then it will be difficult to hold the IPL. If the T20 World Cup got cancelled then only the IPL window was possible."
"The T20 World Cup can happen but there will be 16 teams in the tournament with 15 players each including their support staff, doctors, etc," he added.
"It will be difficult to hold but if the Australian government says it can happen, then it can happen maybe in October-November. There is still some time, maybe the curve in India also will flatten by then."
(Inputs from India Today)
