Reports: BCCI in discussions with ECB to tweak five-Test series for IPL window in England

Team India is set to leave for England on June 2 where they will be starting their tour with the World Test Championship Final against New Zealand starting on June 18. But then they will stay back in the UK itself without playing much in July for the scheduled five-match Test series against the home team starting from August 4.

Meanwhile, the BCCI is also looking to reschedule the Indian Premier League (IPL) which had to be suspended earlier this month after positive COVID cases inside the bio-bubble of various teams. England, Sri Lanka and the UAE have emerged as options to complete the tournament according to different reports.

If the IPL is to be played in England, the BCCI roughly gets a window of the couple of weeks with the T20 World Cup to be played in October-November later this year either in India or UAE (back-up venue). With around 31 matches left, two-week window is very small.

Remainder of IPL 2021 in England?

For the same reason, it is understood that the BCCI and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are in discussion to tweak the upcoming five-match Test series between India and England. Also, if the series is shortened, the ECB would want the IPL to happen in England to cover up the losses of counties.

“BCCI and the ECB are in discussions to tweak the five-Test series. Details of those discussions aren’t public yet. But in whichever manner the ECB agrees to tweak the Test series, they will want the IPL in England because the counties can earn from it. There’ll be a good chance of a quid pro quo,” the source in the know said according to the Times of India.

The sources have even stated that England remains the first option for IPL but UAE and Sri Lanka cannot be discounted either. “Only if costs are escalating to a point where it starts affecting stakeholders, the BCCI will consider the UAE as the second option for the IPL. On that front, we aren’t even discounting the idea of hosting the IPL in Sri Lanka,” the sources further added.

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