The Board of Control for Cricket in India is considering its options to hold the 2020 Indian Premier League, adding that staging the T20 tournament outside the country is its “last option”.
According to ANI, the BCCI prefers the IPL is held in India, but it is willing to consider staging the tournament outside the country if it comes to that. “The board is looking at all options. If it comes to taking IPL out of India, it may happen but as the last option. If that’s the only option then we will consider it. We have done it in the past also and we can do it again but the first preference will be to host it in India,” ANI quoted a source.
No decision has yet been taken, as ANI reported that the BCCI will wait for some clarity over the T20 World Cup which was slated to be held in Australia later this year in October-November. There are speculations that the T20 World Cup will be shifted to next year in favour of the IPL.
Last week, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had deferred a decision on “all agenda items” until June 10.
The 13th edition of the IPL which was set start on March 29 has been postponed indefinitely amid the COVID-19 pandemic. All global sporting activities were brought to a halt after the coroanvirus outbreak. However, many football tournaments and cricket tours are expected to gradually restart from this month.
The IPL was previously held outside India twice―in 2009, hosted by South Africa; and in 2014, hosted jointly by India and UAE, due to the general elections held in those years.
