CPL postponed to avoid clash with India tour of West Indies
Cricket West Indies has pushed forward the schedule of the Caribbean Premier League in order to avoid any clashes with the India tour of West Indies which will start in the first week of August. The tournament has been postponed by at least two weeks to ensure availability of all players.
The Indian cricket team was scheduled to tour West Indies for two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is immediately after the World Cup in England and Wales. But the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) had requested CWI (Cricket West Indies) to postpone the series by two weeks which they agreed to. The final match of the quadrennial event is on July 14 and the series is now set to start by the first week of August.
The Caribbean Premier League (CPL) which was supposed to start on August 21 but in that case the players in the national team would be unavailable to play in the six-team tournament. Thereby, even the CPL has been postponed and is now slated to be played between September 4 to October 12. Pete Russell, the COO of CPL was delighted with the announcement as the rescheduling would ensure the availability of top players.
"The Caribbean Premier League pride itself on being in the very top echelon of T20 tournaments around the world, and for that to happen we need the best players available. We want our fans to be able to watch the best local talent taking part and that is why we are more than happy to be flexible with our dates to make that happen," Russell was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.