The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will talk to its counterparts to facilitate the availability of all players for the remaining 31 matches of the IPL when it resumes in the UAE in September.
While Cricket Australia is likely to release their players, there’s still a lot of uncertainty surrounding Eoin Morgan and Co. with Ashley Giles, the managing director of England men’s cricket, announcing that they wouldn’t be allowed “to go and play cricket elsewhere”.
England are scheduled to tour Bangladesh during that period for a limited overs series but there seems to be some uncertainty because of the prevailing Covid-19 situation.
England’s subsequent tour of Pakistan, however, doesn’t clash with the IPL. The BCCI has decided that the franchises will be allowed to seek replacements if certain players make themselves unavailable.
The other challenge will be the Caribbean Premier League, which runs till September 19. Sources told The Telegraph that BCCI has already initiated talks with Cricket West Indies in an effort to ensure the players’ availability.
At its virtual special general meeting on Saturday, presided over by Board chief Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI formally informed the members of the decision to shift the IPL to the UAE owing to “the monsoon season in India in the months of September-October”.
The league is likely to begin from September 19/20 with the final set for October 10. Senior Board officials will do a recce of the arrangements in the UAE.
It was also decided to seek a month’s “extension” from the ICC during its board meeting on Monday “to take an appropriate call” on hosting the T20 World Cup, scheduled in India in October-November.
While the BCCI will want to use the time to carry on talks with the government for a complete tax waiver on the tournament, the declining pandemic graph could also work in their favour.
The members were informed that the BCCI would end up paying close to Rs 900 crore if it failed to get the tax exemption and that talks with the government have been “encouraging” so far.
The tax issue has been a bone of contention with the ICC since the 2016 World T20 in India. The compensation package for domestic players wasn’t discussed though, and would be done at an “appropriate forum”.
