The future of the next edition of the Indian Premier League amid the coronavirus pandemic is the talk of the town now. While BCCI President Sourav Ganguly said they are looking at all possible chances to host the tournament. However, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar feels a realistic chance of IPL 2020 taking in Sri Lanka in September is the only viable option for the organisers.
Reports suggested that BCCI is eyeing the October-November window to host the mega event with ICC likely to postpone the T20 World Cup 2020. But with Australia flattening its COVID-19 curve, the global event looks like a reality. Australia government recently announced that 25 percent crowd can turn up in the stadiums which have made T20 World Cup look more imminent than IPL.
Shortened IPL 2020 is a realistic option: Sunil Gavaskar
In the wake of the recent developments, Sunil Gavaskar feels hosting IPL 2020 in September in Sri Lanka or UAE, is a more practical solution. Meanwhile, UAE has already confirmed that they have offered BCCI to host the cash-rich league.
“After the announcement by the Australian government, there seems to be a possibility of conducting a World T20 in October,” Gavaskar told Aaj Tak. “If ICC believes that World T20 can happen, then having IPL looks difficult because it could only be held if World T20 is postponed but after the announcement (by Australia PM Scott Morrison), IPL in October looks difficult.
“September you can’t have IPL in India due to monsoon. But maybe in Sri Lanka from early September with teams playing each other once instead of double-header. Maybe you can think of that,” he added.
Meanwhile, the 13th season of the T20 blitz was scheduled to commence from March 29. However, BCCI had to postpone it to April 14 after the first lockdown. BCCI had to postpone it further with no signs of the COVID-19 curve flattening. The fans will have to wait for a few more days to get a clear idea on the future of IPL 2020.