India tour of England likely to stay unchanged, IPL 2021 Phase 2 to be completed between Sep 15-Oct 15th- The BCCI’s bid to shift the five-Test series between India and England, starting August 4, by a week in order to accommodate the remaining 31 IPL 2021 games has not met with any favourable response from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
While BCCI didn’t make any formal request as it was confirmed by the ECB spokesperson, it is learnt that the informal discussions between the bigwigs of both boards have not yielded any favourable result.
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“There is no chance of ECB acceding to BCCI’s request of shifting the dates of the Test series. Since they have made their stand point clear informally, I don’t think there is any point of making a formal request,” a senior BCCI source in the know of things told PTI.
“The ECB have their inaugural ‘Hundred’ from July 24 to August 21. Their broadcast deals and everything is in place. So there is no chance of any shift happening,” the source said.
Indian team is looking at a potential gap of six weeks after the completion of World Test Championship final against New Zealand which is scheduled from June 18-22 in Southampton and start of the England series.
The five-Test series starts with first match at Nottingham (Aug-4-8), followed by Lord’s (Aug 12-16), Leeds (Aug 25-29), Oval (Sep 2-6) and Manchester (Sep 10-14).
However, a potential start in the last week of July, with lesser gaps between the Tests would open the entire month of September in which BCCI can now complete the IPL 2021 in the UAE between September 15 to October 15.
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The BCCI, it is learnt, has already started talks with various boards about the window between September 15 to October 15 with UAE being almost zeroed in as the destination like 2020 edition.
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