Reports | July-September probable window for IPL 13 amid COVID-19 outbreak

When the BCCI meeting last week concluded in the IPL being postponed till April 15, subject to further developments, it seemed like the top officials in Indian cricket were willing to cede luxury for the sake of human lives. The coronavirus pandemic has infected nearly 200,000 people, killing nearly 8,000 people. The general feeling was that the franchise owners and the BCCI officials were on board for Plan B — playing a truncated league within a delayed, shortened window.

But, according to a TOI report, it seems that the Indian cricket board is willing to go to any lengths to host a full 60-match tournament. ‘If not now then later, if not in India then overseas, if not with all the available players then some,’ seems to be the going idea.

"The 2009 IPL - in South Africa - was played inside 37 days. That's five weeks and two days. If that kind of a window is made available, the IPL can be held partly in India and partly overseas, or the entire tournament can be shifted, depending on how the Covid-19 situation is globally," the report added. 

As per the Future Tours Programme (FTP) — cricket's annual calendar — only the Asia Cup T20 and Pakistan’s tour of England and Ireland come between the months of July and September. England and Pakistan aside, most other cricketing nations — Australia, West Indies, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan — do not have a packed window. Even the Asian sides and India — who are scheduled to play three each of T20Is and ODIs in Sri Lanka during June-July available. It has been learnt that going forward, the BCCI’s plan will be to see if those schedules can be tweaked and how.