IPL 2021 Phase 2: BCCI planning to resume tournament from THIS date

After much deliberation, the BCCI in the annual SGM decided to shift the rest of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to the UAE where the whole of 13th edition took place last year due to the COVID-19 situation in the country. However, the dates are still in the works since this time the BCCI also needs to work out the availability of the overseas players.

As per a report in Inside Sport, the BCCI is mulling to resume the season from September 17 with the final to be played on October 10. However, the official announcement will only come after the BCCI will be able to negotiate with the Cricket West Indies to advance the 9th edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which is slated to end on September 19.

While the question on the availability of the overseas players still remains and franchises have been working with the BCCI to seek replacements since around 40 players including those of England, Australia and New Zealand will be unavailable, which is why the BCCI has asked the CWI to advance the CPL by at least a week so that the Windies players and other overseas players involved in both the leagues are available to the franchises from the start.

“We will speak to all the boards about the availability of their players. We will also speak to Cricket West Indies, we always had a great relationship with everyone and we are confident some solution will come out in the next few days”, said one of the top BCCI officials after the SGM.

The BCCI also asked for the extension of time from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take a call on hosting T20 World Cup slated for October-November.