The meeting of the board of directors of International Cricket Council on Wednesday ended on an unfinished note. The crucial decision on taking a call on hosting the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia later this year, was postponed for a month, leaving cricket boards across the world, including the Board of Control for Cricket in India, in a quandary.
Several BCCI veterans say that, by doing so, outgoing ICC chairman Shashank Manohar was making things difficult for the BCCI and ensuring it gets little time to prepare for any tournament, especially IPL. However, it was a collective decision of the ICC board.
In a statement issued post the meeting, the ICC said: "The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board today agreed to continue exploring a number of contingency plans regarding the future of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 and the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 until next month whilst planning for delivery of the events in the scheduled window is ongoing."
The delay in the decision on T20 World Cup in Australia impacts all other cricket boards as they do not know which window is available to make up for the lost cricket tours or series. In India's case, the delay is hurting the postponed Indian Premier League. "It's very surprising why the ICC is unable to come to a decision regarding the T20 World Cup, because, even Australia has admitted that hosting it in October would be difficult. It makes things difficult for all boards. We do not know whether a window is available in that period or not. For many [boards], it's a matter of survival and each one is looking to reschedule series and events. Even we do not know whether we can host IPL or look at another tournament," BCCI treasurer Arun Thakur Dhumal told THE WEEK.
The ICC board is also yet to announce the selection process for the chairman's post. Said a seasoned BCCI member: "One can't understand why Shashank [Manohar] is delaying announcing the election process? This way it appears he wants to give BCCI as little time possible to prepare for IPL or not care if it happens or not. This will affect all state associations including his own home association too."
Though there were reports of an ICC board meeting on June 15 to decide the election process to the chairman's post, THE WEEK has learnt that they are mere speculations, and that a date has not been decided yet.
Now, for a clear window for IPL to emerge, members have to agree on a new window for the T20 World Cup, which will take some doing.
The BCCI, meanwhile, is clear that it does not want to give up its right to host the T20 World Cup in 2021. "We have been awarded the 2023 Men's World Cup, too. We don't want to host the T20 World Cup in 2022 as it would mean back-to-back mega events with very little space in between," said Dhumal. The broadcaster, reportedly, is not keen on having two T20 World Cups in one year, if the one in October this year is pushed to early next year.
Hence the delay in deciding on the postponement.
The long-drawn consultations by ICC members also led to a letter being shot off by BCCI president Sourav Ganguly to all state association presidents and secretaries. The letter, a copy of which is with THE WEEK, gives an update on the status of BCCI activities and cricket tournaments like IPL. "The BCCI is working on all possible options to ensure that we are able to stage the IPL this year, even if it means playing the tournament in empty stadiums. The fans, franchisees, players, broadcasters, sponsors and all other stakeholders are keenly looking forward to the possibility of IPL being hosted this year. Recently a lot of players, both from India and other countries, participating in IPL have also shown their keenness on being a part of this year IPL. We are optimistic and the BCCI will shortly decide on the future course of action on this," Ganguly wrote.
The BCCI member, however, refused to read too much into the letter. "Sourav's letter does not say clearly that IPL will happen,” he said.
Ganguly also assured the state associations that the board was planning the next domestic season and, in due course, would share all details and guidelines with its members. Ganguly also said that all dues of states have been cleared as per fund utilisation certificates submitted by them.
