Won’t mind shifting the IPL to another country: Brijesh Patel

The situation in India due to the coronavirus pandemic isn’t getting any better with the death tolls showing little signs of slowing down. Bearing in mind the same, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is in a bit of a fix, regarding hosting the Indian Premier League (IPL). The T20 tournament was scheduled to start on March 29, but it had to be postponed for an indefinite time period.

Brijesh Patel, the IPL governing council chairman, said that the BCCI is currently waiting for a concrete news from the ICC, surrounding the T20 World Cup. The mega event is set to start in the mid of October and with around four months to go, the ICC is still willing to wait and watch.

BCCI earmarked September-October for IPL 2020

In the meantime, the BCCI is also looking for a window around September and October for the IPL to take place. Patel also stated that the management won’t mind shifting the IPL to another country if the situation in India doesn’t improve over the time period.

“We are ready to go ahead with the IPL. But we can start planning the schedule formally only after the official announcement is made on the T20 World Cup. On our part, we’ve already earmarked the September-October window for the tournament to be played,” Patel was quoted as saying by the Times of India (TOI).

“We have to watch how things are going to play out over the next one month from a COVID perspective. We don’t mind shifting the IPL to another country, either in part or in full. There are other aspects to be considered here,” he added.

Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have already expressed their desire to host the IPL. Among them, the UAE seems to be a front-runner, having already hosted the cash-rich league back in 2014. The stadiums in Dubai and Abu Dhabi are also far away from the city, making it easier to follow the protocols of social distancing and others.

Indian cricket has been dealt with another blow recently as their tour of Sri Lanka has been cancelled. The Men in Blue were scheduled to play three T20Is and as many ODIs.