A senior BCCI official told PTI on Tuesday that the postponed Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 will start tentatively on September 18 or 19 in the UAE, with up to 10 double-headers scheduled to be played over a three-week span. It’s possible that the final will take place on October 9 or 10.
The three-week timeframe would be sufficient for the league to conclude its remaining 31 games for the season, resulting in a win-win situation for the BCCI, teams, and broadcasters. The IPL 2021 was postponed on May 4 after several COVID-19 cases were discovered within its bio-bubble.
“The BCCI has spoken to all the stakeholders and the likely start could be between September 18th to 20th. Since September 18 is a Saturday and 19 a Sunday, it is more likely that you would want to re-start it on a weekend date,” the official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“Similarly, October 9th or 10th will be the final as it’s a weekend. We are finalising the itinerary and there will be 10 double headers and seven evening matches along with four main games (two qualifiers, one eliminator and the final), which completes the list of 31 matches,” the official added.
The Indian team’s final Test match against England is scheduled to end on September 14 in Manchester, and the entire team (except Hanuma Vihari and Abhimanyu Easwaran) will be flown to the UAE on a chartered flight for a “bubble to bubble” move the next day.
The Indian team and any available English players will travel from Manchester to Dubai on the same charter flight. Similarly, after fulfilling their Caribbean Premier League commitments, the West Indies players will travel in. Plays from the United Kingdom and the Caribbean will be quarantined for three days “According to the source.
A franchise official reported that BCCI had spoken with them about the situation.
The BCCI has advised us to prepare for the tournament. A team official said, “We’ve been granted a September 15 to 20 range.”
The BCCI has agreed to cancel India’s T20 series against South Africa, which was scheduled for September and was part of the team’s preparations for the T20 World Cup.
The series will not be kept, and there is no better way to prepare for the T20 World Cup than to participate in a high-intensity tournament like the IPL.
Since the T20 World Cup will begin a week or ten days after the IPL concludes, the SA series will have to be postponed.
In November, India hosted a two-Test series against New Zealand, the dates of which could be changed depending on when the T20 World Cup concludes.
Though the BCCI will not relinquish its hosting rights until the COVID-19 situation in India has been resolved, there is little hope that countries will choose to visit India, which is experiencing the worst health crisis since independence.
