The speculations re-triggered over the fate of the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) with the reports of New Zealand Cricket (NZC) offering to play host the tournament amid the COVID-19 pandemic, joining boards from Sri Lanka and UAE who have already proposed to do so. 

But the treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Arun Dhumal, has cleared that staging IPL 2020 overseas is being deemed as the board's last resort for the sake of the annual T20 event. 

Read Also: New Zealand throw their hat in to host the IPL 2020 along with Sri Lanka and UAE

Dhumal said the board is first hoping for the situation to be safe enough for the tournament to be held on home soil. 

"We've to consider India first and then think of overseas," Dhumal told Reuters. 

"They (other countries) have sent these proposals in case we want to organise it there."

"We will discuss it in the next IPL governing council meeting where we will take a call," he added. 

It isn't that the IPL has previously not been held overseas. The entire 2009 edition of the league, as well as the one-third of the 2014 season, took place abroad, in South Africa and UAE respectively, due to the security reasons amid the general elections. 

But the first priority will always be hosting it in India, considering the financial constraints of holding the tournament abroad. 

The BCCI faces loss in revenue upto $535 million if it can't stage the IPL this year. 

Dhumal has already confirmed that the only other possible window for the IPL 2020 is the one taken at the moment by the T20 World Cup in October-November. 

The ICC's own flagship event is likely to be shifted to another year within the existing international FTP due to the logistical challenges of safely conducting the 16-team competition within the pandemic in Australia. 

Even then, however, for the IPL 2020 to replace the T20 World Cup, the deadly outbreak will have to be contained significantly better than it currently is in India. 

"Everybody is under the pressure because of the uncertainty," Dhumal concluded.