Reports: BCCI contemplating moving IPL 2020 out of India

Ever since the coronavirus pandemic started taking charge from the month of March, cricketing tournaments have gone for a toss. India have also suffered from that aspect as apart from the bilateral series against South Africa being cancelled, the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) has also become doubtful. It was scheduled to get underway on March 29 at the Wankhede Stadium.

However, the tournament had to be postponed for an indefinite time period due to the lockdown and the continuous increase in COVID-19 cases. The situation has worsened to the extent that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has also been contemplating moving the T20 event out of India. Arun Dhumal, the BCCI treasurer, said that it’s about safety of the players.

“If it is safe for our players to play IPL in India, then it would be our first preference but in case the situation does not permit and we are not left with any choice and a window is available then we can look at moving IPL 2020 out of India,” Dhumal was quoted as saying in an exclusive interview with Times Now.

IPL has been played overseas before

Back in 2009, the entire IPL had to be shifted to South Africa, that time because of the political scenario in India. The Lok Sabha Elections were underway and the security forces weren’t available for the matches. Even in 2014, a part of the tournament had to be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to the same reason.

“We have done it in the past in South Africa. We may not want to do it willingly but if that’s the only possibility then there is not much anyone can do about it,” Dhumal stated.

Earlier, it was learned that the world’s richest cricket board could end up incurring losses worth INR 4,000 crore of the IPL doesn’t take place. The cricketers could also face pay cuts from the board.

Previously, if reports are to be believed, Sri Lanka and the UAE have offered to host the IPL. But the BCCI treasurer sounded concerned about travel restrictions and other problems in the pandemic situation.

“No country is safe from the Covid-19 pandemic so it’s not going to be easy if we decided to shift IPL out of the country and take players to Sri Lanka, Dubai or South Africa. The situation is almost the same everywhere, international travel restrictions are also a problem.

“Sri Lanka was okay but in the last couple of days cases have risen there so problems are there, we need to deal with them,” he added.