Reports | IPL 2020 cancellation could mean HCA suffering Rs 3.5 crore loss

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nationwide lockdown in India was extended till May 3 and with it, the IPL 2020 season was reportedly postponed indefinitely. One of the eventualities of it is that the Hyderabad Cricket Association could suffer a loss of Rs 3.5 crore, given that the cash-rich event is not held at all this year. The HCA, based on BCCI’s revised norms, were supposed to generate a revenue of about Rs 3.5 crore for the seven home games. Additionally, the BCCI had also decided to pay Rs 50 lakh to the HCA, effectively increasing the staging fee to Rs 1 crore.

“This is a serious setback for sure. We have to find ways to sustain the Association in what will be arguably very tough times once, hopefully, the current crisis eases,” a senior member of the Apex Council of HCA told Sportstar.

The source also added that there is hope, on achieving normalcy, that there could be an alternate window for a curtailed version of IPL around August-September, ahead of the T20 World Cup. 

“The fact that the franchises were told that IPL has only been postponed and not cancelled for the year, means there are still some outside chances, of course, if things change for the good on the COVID-19 front,” the HCA official added.

Meanwhile, there was no response so far from the State government to the HCA’s offer to set up an isolation centre at Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, which was to originally host IPL matches.