MUMBAI: Nothing tentative about it anymore. It can pretty much be stated with near certainty that WHEN the postponed Indian Premier League resumes its suspended innings in September in the UAE, pretty much all the cricket boards, barring England, will have adjusted their schedules around the IPL window that the BCCI is drawing up.
As the Australian Associated Press reported on Wednesday, Cricket Asutralia have locked in more Twenty20 tune-ups ahead of the World Cup as they await confirmation of when (emphasis ours) the second phase of the IPL will be squeezed into the schedule.
The growing expectation is the T20 World Cup will start soon after the IPL ends, and also shift from India to the UAE.
“Players’ wellbeing has always been our No.1 priority,” CA chief executive Nick Hockley told AAP last week, when asked about the prospect of players being rested to help guard against burnout. “We’ll be supporting them through this quarantine period and also once they’re out.”
Hockley’s “jaw jaw” notwithstanding, AAP sees Australia’s schedule leadimg up to the T20 World Cup as this:
*Five T20s & three ODIs v West Indies (July 9-24)
*Five T20s v Bangladesh (August)
*IPL (likely late September, final dates TBC)
Pretty much the same thinking applies to the other boards as well. As an ESPNcricinfo story on Tuesday said: “The BCCI is honing in on the possibility of conducting the second half of IPL 2021 in the UAE in a window between September 18 and October 12. For that to happen, however, it would require a rejigging of various boards’ calendars, not least the Hero Caribbean Premier League which is scheduled to start on August 28.”
The story on ESPNcricinfo said discussions between the BCCI and CPL have started concerning the schedule. “West Indian players are a significant part of the IPL and the clash of dates has forced the BCCI to open discussions with the CPL, asking whether it can tweak its itinerary to allow enough time for players to travel to the UAE for the IPL.”
