Hosting later stage of IPL in front of crowd will depend on the situation: BCCI treasurer

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to host the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) from April 9 to May 30 in India across six venues namely Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. The first phase of league games, comprising 20 matches will be held in Chennai and Mumbai while the next 16 league games will be conducted in Ahmedabad and Delhi.

This will be followed by the tournament moving to Bengaluru and Kolkata for the last 20 league matches. The playoffs of the marquee league will be hosted at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad. Also, IPL  2021 will witness a total of 11 doubleheaders where 6 teams will play three-afternoon matches & two teams will play two-afternoon matches.

There were speculations that the BCCI can allow the presence of the fans during the IPL 2021 matches however, the chances of viewers in the tournament have almost diminished after BCCI along with the Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) decided to host the remaining of the three T20 Internationals between India and England behind closed doors in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

BCCI to not take any risk considering ICC T20 World Cup after IPL

BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal opined on the chances of hosting IPL 2021 in the presence of the spectators saying that the board was quite clear about not allowing fans in the initial phase but they are yet to take a call on the presence of the fans in the second half of the T20 Championship.

“The initial phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was without crowds only, it was already decided,” said Dhumal as quoted by News 18.

Asked if there are chances of any crowds in the later stages of the tournament, he said, “It will depend on the situation”.

Further, it is learned that the Indian Board is not keen on taking any chances as they are scheduled to host the ICC T20 World Cup later this year. “India is due to host the T20 World Cup later this year. There is a lot at stake. Anything untoward now, even if a few cases crop up, it can have an impact on the tournament. It can create some problems,” said an official in the know of things.