The Board of control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed that the remaining matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 will be held in the United Arab Emirates. The games shall be held during the September-October window. Though the official start date is not announced, it is being reported that the tournament might resume on September 20 and will be played for a month.
According to BCCI, the agreed time period in India is not suitable for cricket as it rains a lot during those two months. The second wave of COVID-19 is still on in India and that also had its say in picking up the venues for the tournament. The entire IPL 2020 was hosted in UAE and the tournament was a success even with only 3 grounds used for all the games including the playoffs and Final. BCCI would hope to find the same success this time for the remainder of IPL 2021.
“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced to complete the remaining matches of VIVO Indian Premier League 2021 season in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) considering the monsoon season in India in the months of September-October this year. The decision was taken at a Special General Meeting (SGM) held virtually, where members unanimously agreed to resume IPL,” stated BCCI in a media release.
Having said that, the biggest challenge for BCCI would be to get the international players available for all the remaining games. West Indies would be playing at home in all three formats against South Africa, Australia and Pakistan until the end of August. And they had CPL 2021 which is currently scheduled to end on September 19! If IPL is going to start the very next day, it would be hard for franchises to get players from West Indies and the overseas players participating in CPL on such short notice!
On the other hand, England are set to tour Bangladesh and Pakistan for limited-overs games during the proposed window for IPL 2021. This would make it tough for BCCI to get players from England to participate in the remainder of the league. More importantly, the 5-match Test series between England and India which is to be played in England will conclude on September 14 if the final Test match goes into the fifth day!
India were also to host the World T20 2021 later this year. However, the decision on the venues for this tournament is yet to be taken by the board as they have sought more time to take a final decision. “The BCCI SGM further authorized the Office Bearers to seek an extension of time from the ICC to take an appropriate call on the hosting of ICC T20 World Cup 2021,” added the BCCI media release.
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