Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today announced to complete the remaining matches of Indian Premier League 2021 season in the United Arab Emirates considering the monsoon season in India in the months of September-October this year.
The decision was taken at a Special General Meeting (SGM) held virtually, where members unanimously agreed to resume IPL.
The BCCI SGM further authorised the Office Bearers to seek an extension of time from the ICC to take an appropriate call on the hosting of ICC T20 World Cup 2021.
But the final decision over the hosting rights of T20 World Cup remain with the ICC. The world body will meet on June 1 for the same. Interestingly, last year T20 World Cup in Australia was cancelled and the rights were given to India.
Earlier, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had mentioned that if the IPL 2021 is not completed, the board is likely to suffer losses over Rs 2500 cr.
Change in dates for the IPL would mean that the series’ against South Africa and New Zealand will suffer.
These two were supposed to take place just before the T20I World Cup. Meanwhile, there are reports surfacing already that the series against Proteas is all but canceled.
In last last Apex Council meeting, the BCCI had picked nine venues for the T20 World Cup — Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Dharamsala, Ahmedabad and Lucknow.
“The nine venues have been informed and it was again discussed that preparations should continue for the showpiece event with an eye on the Covid-19 situation and a call will only be taken closer to the event. It is too early to imagine what can or will happen in October-November with regards to the coronavirus situation. But preparations shall be on,” a BCCI source said.