Reports | IPL could be held in October if World T20 gets cancelled
IPL
The 2020 edition of the IPL could reportedly be held in October if ICC cancels the T20 World Cup in Australia, with Australia set to issue a complete lock-down in the country. The cash-rich tournament has already been rescheduled once to April 15 but given the situation, it looks unlikely to start.
COVID-19 has already caused chaos in the BCCI camp after the scheduled IPL’s start-date was affected by the global pandemic. With the 21-day shutdown in the country, the 2020 edition of the IPL is set to be delayed once again. As per reports from Times of India, it is believed that the tournament could replace the T20 World Cup even in the cricketing calendar, in case the global tournament gets cancelled.
With Australia all set to lockdown its borders, there is a potential opportunity that arises for IPL in case the World Cup showdown gets cancelled. Alongside that, the reports also added that there is a possibility that the UK might follow suit to close its borders.
"At present, there is a lockdown of borders and while Australia has said it is a potential six-month lockdown, things can change with an improvement in the scenario. UK could follow the same pattern considering the spread of the pandemic,” a BCCI official said, reported TOI.
"We are still to understand what the Indian government will decide with regards to closing the international borders. In such a scenario, the only window that looks safe is the October-November one. But again, that collides with the T20 World Cup,” he added.
But for that to become a reality, all of the aforementioned things should roll into play, with the ICC needing to take a call on the global event. However, the reports did say that the window was spoken for the rescheduling of the tournament.
"Again, it would be the last step for the ICC to push the T20 World Cup from 2020 to 2022 because there is no window in 2021. So, at the moment, it is all a bit too far-fetched to be honest. But yes, the October-November window has been spoken about for the IPL, but a lot of external factors need to fall into place for that to become a reality," it concluded.
