Reports: England to postpone tour of India due to clash with IPL 2020

Indian cricket has been massively affected due to the coronavirus pandemic. It started with shelving the home ODIs against South Africa after an abandoned match in Dharamsala. Thereafter, the Indian Premier League (IPL) was set to start on March 29, but it had to be postponed for an indefinite time period. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is currently looking for an apt window.

It was earlier learned that the world’s richest cricket board is planning to start the upcoming edition of the IPL in the month of September. However, they are also waiting for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take a call on the T20 World Cup in Australia that is scheduled to begin in the mid of October. India are also set to play a bilateral series against England from September.

England has resumed top-level cricket

The tour consisted of three T20Is, as many ODIs, starting September 16. But, the series might not happen as the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is set to suspend the tour due to clash with the forthcoming IPL season as per reports in Daily Mail. Recently, England became the first major cricketing nation to resume top-level cricket with the Test series against the West Indies.

The opening Test at the Rose Bowl in Southampton turned out to be a humdinger, but the hosts, led by Ben Stokes, lost the encounter by four wickets. The second Test will be getting underway on Thursday, July 16 at the Old Trafford in Manchester. After the three-match series, England will also be hosting Pakistan for a Test and T20I series, starting in the month of August.

As far as the IPL is concerned, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has hinted that the tournament could take place abroad if the situation in India doesn’t improve going forward. Currently, India is third in the list of COVID-19 affected cases after the United States of America (USA) and Brazil.

Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have offered to host the cash-rich T20 league. A number of experts also feel that the tournament should be played behind closed doors bearing in mind how contagious the ungodly COVID-19 virus has been.