On Monday, the BCCI treasurer, Arun Dhumal confirmed that the board currently in no position of taking a final call on the future of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League. He also said that that it would be “too premature” to comment on whether the tournament can be slotted in place of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in October-November.”
The IPL has been postponed till April 15 in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic and with the lockdown in the country been extended till May 3, it is inevitable that the cash-rich league can’t be held during its dedicated April-May window.
Describing the same to PTI, Dhumal said, “We don’t even know when the lockdown will end and if we don’t know, how can we even have a meaningful discussion. Once we get a clarity from the government, we can then sit and take fresh stock of the situation. Any speculation about its future will be premature. Everyone wants IPL to happen but let’s have some clarity first.”
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The BCCI treasurer clarified that there was no scheduled conference call between the office bearers on Monday. He also provided some practical insight into the rescheduling of IPL as the October-November window is nothing but a rumor.
Dhumani explained “Firstly, if Australia is under lockdown for six months, how can we conclude that they will allow their players to travel from next month right away? What if the travel restrictions for its citizens are still in place. How will they come to India then? And don’t forget that other boards also need to agree. Secondly, even if the lockdown ends in India, what if some of the major cities still have those COVID ‘hotspots’? Can we risk the lives of our sportspersons? Thirdly, the players are likely to go without training for months.”
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THe bCCI treasure also mentioned that even if they get into a position of organizing the IPL, they need to give time to player in order to do full-fledged training before we can start a tournament.
