5 Tournaments/bilateral series that could prove hindrance to BCCI to stage IPL 2021 in September-October window

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is planning to organise the remaining 31 matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the September-October window in the UAE. To be more precise, the tournament is likely to be played tentatively from around September 19-20 to October 9-10. The schedule has been roughly prepared, if the reports are to be believed. But it is not going to be easy for the BCCI given the packed cricketing schedule.

BCCI will have to do a lot of rejigging in other schedules and request other boards to make it so that the IPL is completed this year. One should also give a spare of thought for the team India players who will only get free from the England tour only on September 14 and if IPL goes ahead, will have to leave for UAE the very next day.

But what about the players from other countries? Are they available? How many bilateral series and T20 leagues are set to be played in September and October?

Here we bring you the tournaments/bilateral series which might prove hindrance for IPL 2021:

1. CPL 2021

The Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is scheduled to be played from August 28 to September 19 this year. This clearly will affect the availability of the West Indies players who are always on demand in the IPL. The likes of Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Chris Gayle and Shimron Hetmyer play a crucial role for their respective teams.

Moreover, all these cricketers are a part of the preferred playing XI for their teams and their availability will have a direct impact on the team’s performances. Moreover, the big ticket overseas players like Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir and Chris Morris are also featuring in the CPL this year.

Even if the Cricket West Indies (CWI) tries to assist the BCCI by rejigging the schedule, they can only end the tournament early around September 15 but can’t start early. West Indies have a bumper international season this time and their last series against Pakistan will only end on August 24.