IPL Trophy Pic Credit: BCCI/IPL
The Governing Council (GC) of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to suspend the IPL 2021 season with immediate effect at an emergency meeting on Tuesday. However, various English county clubs have now offered to host the remaining matches of the tournament in September. According to reports, The MCC, Surrey, Warwickshire, and Lancashire, which play at Lord's, The Kia Oval, Edgbaston, and Emirates Old Trafford, respectively, have written to the ECB requesting to host the remainder of the tournament. According to the plans, the tournament will be completed in around two weeks in the second half of September. The BCCI has not discussed any plan to host IPL in England till now, although it is a viable option.
In addition to hosting the competition, counties highlighted a point that it would help the players to prepare better for the T20 World Cup. It will ensure that if T20 World Cup is moved away from India to UAE, teams will have fresh pitches ahead of the competition.
Several roadblocks in the way of the strategy
The counties expected to play two or even three games a day in front of sold-out audiences, which is also possible if the IPL is held in the UAE. Also, there will be no difference between the group stage and the knockout games.
However, there are several roadblocks in the way of the strategy. There would be various quarantine problems in getting players from all over the world into the UK, even though many Indian players will be in the UK at the time for their Test series with England could be helpful.
The current timetable is the other more difficult stumbling block. The England-India Test series concludes on September 14 in Manchester, with England scheduled to play T20Is in Pakistan less than a month later. Most other teams have international obligations simultaneously, with isolation time to account for.
Meanwhile, the counties are hoping to find a window in which the tournament can be held in England with some flexibility.
