The Board of Control for Cricket in India recently suspended the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) till April 15. Now, a report in TOI suggested that the cash-rich league can get delayed further, and the board may organize IPL in July-September. However, there hasn’t been any official confirmation by BCCI.
Assuming if the 13th IPL season takes place as the media reports suggest, then inevitably it will clash with many other international series. The major reason BCCI wants to stage the lucrative league between July and September is that the ICC’s FTP program between these three months is not as packed as others.
For those who aren’t aware, FTP stands for Future Tours Programme. It is a schedule of international cricket tours for ICC’s full members, with an objective of each team playing each other at least once at home and once away over a period of 10 years.
As per the current FTP, Australia will tour England for three T20Is, and as many One-Day Internationals (ODIs) starting from July 03. Just a few da♉ys later, New Zealand will tour the West Indies for a similar fixture, which begins from July 08.
After hosting the Kiwis, the Wi⭕ndies will greet South Africa for three🍰 Tests and five T20Is, which is scheduled to start from July 23. In the last week of this month, Pakistan will tour England for three Tests and as many T20Is.
In the same month, the inaugural edition of The Hundred – the 100-ball cricket tournament in England and Wales, which will see the participation of cricketers f꧙rom teams like Australia, West Indies, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and others. T🌠his tournament will begin on July 17 and end on August 15.
Apart from these series, the Asia Cup 2020 is scheduled to take place in September in the United Arab Emirates. However, the fixtures haven’t been announced yet.
A 🐭BCCI source hinted that the Board could organize IPL as they did in South Africa in 2009.
“The 2009 IPL – in South Africa – was played inside 37 days. That’s five weeks and two days. If that kind of a window is made available, the IPL can be held partly in India and partly overseas, or the entire tournament can be shifted, depending on how the Covid-19 situation is globally,” the source said as quoted by TOI.
Here are the list of international and d🍃omestic series/tournaments which may get affected if IPL🍎 takes place in July-September:
International:
- Australia tour of England (3 T20Is, 3 ODIs)
- New Zealand tour of West Indies (3 T20Is, 3 ODIs)
- South Africa tour of West Indies (3 Tests, 5 T20Is)
- Pakistan tour of England (3 Tests, 3 T20Is)
- Asia Cup
Domestic:
- The Hundred (July 17-August 15)
