MUMBAI: In the next Future Tours Programme (FTP) cycle of 2019-23, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is the only domestic Twenty20 league during which all international cricket will come to a halt through April and May.
According to the dates submitted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which are with the ICC and have been identified in the new FTP, the IPL will be played each year from around the end of March until the end of May. Over five seasons, the only international cricket that might coincide with the league are two series featuring Ireland against Zimbabwe and one where England play a three-ODI series against Netherlands, the 13th-ranked side in the ODI league, reports Cricbuzz.
According to the events document, penciled in at the scheduling workshop in Singapore, the 2018 edition of the IPL will begin on April 4 and end with the final on May 27. The IPL dates for five-year cycle in the FTP (between 2019-23) are: April 3 to May 26 (2019); April 1 to May 31 (2020); March 31 to May 30 (2021); March 30 to May 29 (2022); March 29 to May 28 (2023).
The ICC also has earmarked the dates for global events that fall in the 2019-23 FTP cycle, starting with the 2019 World Cup in England, which starts on May 30, four days after the IPL; the World Cup final is scheduled for July 14. In 2020, Australia will host the World T20 between October 24 and November 15. The other two marquee events in the second half of the new FTP will be hosted by India: the Champions Trophy will be played in 2021, between October 21 and November 14, while the 2023 World Cup starts on February 9 with the final on March 26.
The Asia Cup, which features the top five countries of the Indian subcontinent, has also got a fixed window for the next three editions. The tournament will be played between September 15-30 in 2018, 2020 and 2022. The Asia Cup is not part of the ODI League; in the recent past, the tournament has been played in both ODI and T20 formats, the report notes.
