According to the recent reports of the Time Of India, BCCI doesn’t seem to be in favor of organizing the mega auction of cricketers as scheduled ahead of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). There are certain chances that the mega-auction which would’ve seen all franchises rebuild their teams, almost from scratch, will be postponed due to the Covid-19.
The reports suggest that there may be no auction at all ahead of next year’s IPL and franchises will most likely make do with the existing set of players barring last-minute replacements due to some injury issues. The 13th edition will conclude on November 10, following which the BCCI will be having just four-and-half months to begin the preparations for the next edition.
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Describing the same, one of the sources of TOI said, “What’s the point in doing a mega auction now and not have enough time to plan it properly? IPL might as well go ahead and finish the 2021 edition of the tournament and then see how it wants to go about.”
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team management seems to have a similar view. The KKR co-owner, Shahrukh Khan, in fact, raised the subject at the recent meeting of franchise owners, and most of the franchise owners agreed to it. The move is also expected to be discussed in the coming weeks, should throw light on BCCI’s plans for the next 12-18 months.
To start the 2021 IPL early, BCCI will need to cut down the window they allot to the series against England early next year. England is scheduled to visit India by mid-January (in case they need to quarantine) to play a T20, Test, and ODI series. According to the current plans, BCCI will have not more than 40-45 odd days to conclude the entire England tour, hence they might opt to reduce the no. of Tests.
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India is also expected to lock horns with Sri Lanka post the 2021 IPL followed by the Asia Cup – both tournaments got postponed this year because of Covid – and will then host the T20 WC in September-October as scheduled.
