The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) is discussing all the possible options to hold the 13th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). They have even considered staging the event outside India but it is still their last resort. A source within BCCI said, “The board is looking at all options. If it comes to taking IPL out of India, it may happen but as the last option.”
The source further added, “If that’s the only option then we will consider it. We have done it in the past also and we can do it again but the first preference will be to host it in India.” The 13th season of the IPL was scheduled to begin on March 29 but it had to be indefinitely postponed due to the lockdown imposed because of the COVID-19 crises.
For the unversed, it will not be for the first time that the IPL will be hosted outside the nation. Previously in 2009 IPL was held in South Africa and the 2014 edition was staged in India and UAE.
On Thursday, the International Cricket Council (ICC) deferred a decision on ”all agenda items” until June 10. The source said that as of now nothing has been finalized and they will wait for clarity on the T20 World Cup to be played from October 18-November 15 in Australia.
BCCI had previously considered conducting the IPL in the September-October window and postponing the T20 World Cup to 2021. And the committee is also considering playing all the matches behind the closed doors in order to adhere to the social-distancing orders.
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ICC has even rolled out a suggestion to ban the use of saliva to shine the ball and players being in quarantine before any tournaments begin.
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