The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to undergo in less than five weeks time. The BCCI has come out with the entire schedule with defending champions Mumbai Indians locking horns with Chennai Super Kings on March 29. Cricket Australia (CA), New Zealand Cricket (NZC) and England Cricket Board (ECB) have informed the authorities that their players will miss the first few matches of the tournament because of their international commitments. The Kiwis and Aussies will join the league after 30th March, while the English players will be available from 1 April onwards.
Meanwhile, with the popularity of IPL tough sky heights, BCCI has a monopoly over April-May window in the cricket calendar every year. International teams generally refrain from playing bilateral series during the period. But the early start of the competition has resulted in a clash with two international series.
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Australia and New Zealand will be playing a bilateral series while England will be playing their final Test of the Sri Lanka tour when IPL 2020 starts from March 29. Moreover, a few Aussie players are also slated to play the Sheffield Shield final from March 27-31.
As per reports in ESPNCricinfo, the respective cricket boards have contacted the IPL authorities and informed them about it. It is one of the main reasons why Rajasthan Royals will begin their campaign from April 2 as most of the foreigners are from England and Australia. Also, Mumbai Indians will not have the services of Chris Lynn and Trent Boult for the first game while Chennai Super Kings will miss Sam Curran.
