Suspended IPL to be completed in the UAE
MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League, suspended on May 4, will be completed in the United Arab Emirates in Septemberoctober, the Indian cricket board announced on Saturday. The decision was taken at a Special General Meeting of BCCI, held virtually.
It also decided to seek more time from the global body, ICC, before finalising whether the October-november T20 World Cup stays in India.
The official reason given for moving IPL—IT was suspended after some players and support staff tested positive in the tournament bio-bubble—out of India is not the pandemic. “The BCCI on Saturday announced to complete the remaining matches of VIVO IPL 2021 season in the UAE considering the monsoon season in India in the months of September-october,” secretary Jay Shah said in a statement.
The logic behind not listing Covid-19—india is still in the grip of the second wave of infections—for the shift is to keep open the option of hosting the T20 World Cup in India. The tournament is scheduled to begin mid-october and nine cities have been shortlisted as venues. “There is an ICC meeting on June 1, followed by the AGM in July. If participating nations are open to play the World Cup in India in a bio-bubble environment, we can work on the modalities,” said a BCCI official. “For now, we will seek more time from ICC.”
Members were also told that the board has made headway in talks with the government regarding tax exemptions for hosting the World Cup. In the event no exemption is given, BCCI will be liable to pay around Rs. 900 crore to ICC, and Rs. 227 crore in case of a partial exemption.
Virtually half of IPL 14 (31 games) is yet to be completed, and there would now be several double headers, considering the limited number of days available. The office-bearers made it clear in the meet that IPL would go ahead even if few international players are available.
“We were told the board would be in talks with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) as well as other member boards, if they could tweak their schedule or make some players available,” said a state association official who attended the meet. “If there are several overseas players missing, affected franchises could also be given the option of a draw of lots to seek replacements, and domestic players could benefit.”
The tentative plan is for IPL to begin on September 19-20 following a 3-day quarantine. This after the England cricket board refused to make a late change to the five-match Test series against India which ends on September 14.
ECB has also made it clear its players cannot be made available, which means a no-show by the likes of Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan, Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, Chennai Super Kings’ Moeen Ali and Sam Curran and Jonny Bairstow of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Nine leading West Indies players, including Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Chris Gayle, and some other overseas players like South Africa’s Faf du Plessis and Chris Morris would be playing in the CPL, which is scheduled to finish on September 19. New Zealand, Afghanistan and Bangladesh all have international cricket lined up to prepare for the World Cup.
The IPL 2020 was staged in the UAE late last year amid the national lockdown in India and was staged in three venues— Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
The BCCI meeting did not discuss the issue of providing a compensation package to domestic players, who are struggling due to the suspension of Ranji Trophy amid the pandemic. “A state unit raised the issue, but the member was told the matter wasn’t for this meet, and it would be addressed separately,” a state official said.