Remainder of IPL 2021 not happening in India, confirms BCCI president Sourav Ganguly

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KEY STORY

  • The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was suspended earlier this week after COVID-19 breached the bio-bubble of four franchises. At first, the BCCI rescheduled the league stage match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders after 2 positive cases.
  • As the number of COVID-19 cases increased 6 in the next 24 hours, the board had no other option but to suspend the league. Since the league is suspended and not cancelled, the BCCI will aim to stage the remainder of 31 matches whenever it gets the window.
  • Also, the venue of the league will be one to watch out for. The BCCI was confident of pulling off the league in India as it had successfully hosted England in a full-fledged series earlier in the year. But the number of COVID-19 cases started to increase in March and also had its impact on IPL.
  • While the BCCI will stage the remainder of IPL 2021 whenever it finds the window, board’s president Sourav Ganguly has confirmed that India will not host IPL 2021. Speaking to Sportstar, the former India captain said that the league ‘can’t happen in India’. He also revealed that Team India is scheduled to tour Sri Lanka in July for a white-ball series.
  • “No (Ganguly on IPL after WTC final). India is supposed to go to Sri Lanka for three ODIs and five T20Is. There are lots of organisational hazards like 14-day quarantine. It can’t happen in India. This quarantine is tough to handle. Too early to say how we can find a slot to complete the IPL,” he told Sportstar.

CONLUSION

  • India have a packed schedule in 2021 and as Ganguly said, it’s too early to talk about finding a suitable slot to complete IPL.
  • As per the schedule, India will leave for the UK in June for the WTC final and the five-match Test series against England, which takes place in August-September. The availability of foreign players will be one of the major factors in deciding the window for IPL 2021.

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