Reports: BCCI planning to stage IPL 2021 final on October 18 to avoid more doubleheaders

The BCCI has decided to stage remaining 31 matches of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UAE. The tournament had to be postponed after 29 matches following multiple COVID cases within the bubble. Earlier, it was reported that the board is looking at the three-week window from September 18 to October 10 to finish the season.

The decision was taken at the Special General Meeting (SGM) held on May 29. Accordingly, a BCCI delegation including President Sourav Ganguly and Secretary Jay Shah reached the UAE to finalise all the talks with the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB).

However, Jagran has now reported that the Indian board is planning to stretch the IPL 2021 season till October 18. This is being done to reduce the number of doubleheaders as players will suffer in the extreme heat of the UAE during the afternoon matches. BCCI is in discussion with the required officials for the same.

“We will get an extended window of 8 days and we will be able to reduce the doubleheaders. It is very hot in UAE and the cricketers might suffer due to this. So, the board is trying to keep less afternoon matches. If the final is played on 18 October, 8 doubleheaders matches will be played less. We are in talks regarding this with the Chairman of ECB and we are hopeful that our proposal will be accepted,” the official said.

What about T20 World Cup then?

Meanwhile, the T20 World Cup is also set to be played in October-November. If one has to go by the dates of last year, the tournament is expected to start October 18 and conclude on November 15. Currently, India are designated hosts of the tournament but the second wave of COVID-19 has put a lot of question marks.

BCCI has asked an extension of a month to gauge the situation while ICC has kept UAE as a back-up venue. In any case, the T20 World Cup could be shifted by a few days but it will need a lot of rejigging as ICC also organises warm-up matches for all teams before the World Cup commences.