Hyderabad: There is a good news for Indian Premier League (IPL) fans as Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is seriously looking at the September and November window to stage the IPL 2020. However, the board is yet to finalise the venues for the tournament. According to multiple media reports, the richest T20 league of the world will be played between September-end and November start. It is understood that the board is looking more specifically to September 26 and November 8 window.
However, the tournament will only be held in this time frame if the Twenty 20 World Cup in Australia gets postponed or cancelled. Taking the September-November window into account, it can be said that BCCI would try to host matches in the south, more specifically in Chennai and Bengaluru where weather normally stays calm in this time. As COVID-19 pandemic hit Mumbai badly there is hardly any chance that BCCI would take the risk of hosting any matches in the city.
At the same time, BCCI will look to host matches in the townships as COVID-19 cases are very less in these places compared to the big cities. As the matches would be played behind closed doors, the board has nothing to worry about fans. Booking hotels in townships will reduce the burden on its exchequers as well. With the travel industry is amongst the worst-hit sectors and people are unlikely to travel until the situation improves, BCCI will find it easy to books hotels as per its requirement while adhering to the health guidelines.
Apart from that, charted planes will be kept standby and various expert committees will be formed to ensure the safety of players.
However, the chance of IPL in September and November will depend on the fate of Asia Cup, scheduled in September. If the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) plans to go ahead with the tournament, BCCI may have to reduce the tournament size.
