Sourav Ganguly, the president of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made his intent clear on the suspended Indian Premier League 2020 season when he wrote a letter to the member state associations. The copy of letter in possession of InsideSport clearly suggested that the BCCI’s top brass is going all out to look for options to organize IPL 2020 – as per the promise to state associations, Ganguly and the team has identified the tentative window for IPL 2020 from September 26th to November 8th.
Also Read: IPL 2020: Big boost for IPL, Cricket Australia chairman admits ‘T20 World Cup unrealistic’
Tentative schedule for IPL 2020 – September 26th to November 8th
Insidesport has reliably learnt that over last few days the BCCI consulted with all the franchises, media rights partner (Star India) and the other stakeholders of the IPL and has identified tentative window from Sep 26th to Nov 8th for IPL 2020. This tentative datelines will be followed subject to the postponement of the T20 World Cup in Australia.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) after their board meeting on June 10th had delayed its decision on the T20 World Cup to the month of July.
– The sources in the BCCI tells us that the board was not ready to wait till that long and that is the reason as soon as the ICC meeting finished, Ganguly shot off the attached letter to the member associations.
– Post that BCCI went into huddle to decide the tentative plan on the IPL 2020.
– The board ended all speculation on the bilateral series listed in the FTP by officially announcing postponement of Sri Lanka / Zimbabwe series.
– BCCI also consulted with the broadcast partner on the window and post that tentative window for IPL 2020 has been zeroed down from Sep 26th to Nov 8th.
“We can’t keep our plans on hold. ICC has to decide on the T20 World Cup way forward and we have to decide on our plans. That is the reason tentative window has been zeroed down and we will start preparing as per this window for IPL”, said one of the BCCI member.
No Decision on the Venue ?
Now as the window is decided for IPL 2020 – the next huddle for the BCCI would be where to host the IPL 2020. The Indian cricket board is undecided on the same. The first preference still is India provided the situation improves in next 30 days. According to the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel’s own admission –
“the IPL 2020 can be hosted closed doors, can be limited to fewer venues, can be taken overseas, can be even played without international players”
This clearly proves the intent of the BCCI and tells that the Indian board is desperate to organize IPL 2020 and they are ready to make compromises. The only roadblock to board’s intent currently is the T20 World Cup – if the ICC decides to remove that, the Indian board is ready with their plan IPL 2020.
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