BCCI Seeks Government's Approval To Finalize IPL 13 Plan After ICC Postpones World T20

With BCCI eyeing the September To November Window to stage the high profile T20 league and the ICC World T20 postponement further clearing the decks for the Indian cricket board to host the tournament, it will now only take the Indian government's green signal to get the biggest T20 league in the world underway.

BCCI Logo and IPL Trophy (Fotojet Collage)

The dark clouds looming over the fate of the 2020 ICC T20 World Cup finally were blown away as the International Cricket Council (ICC) eventually put an end to days of speculation by announcing the postponement of the flagship T20 multi-nation tournament due to the Covid-19 pandemic. While the news of the World T20's postponement was disappointing for millions of cricket fans around the world, all was not lost as it gives a realistic window of an opportunity for the the BCCI to stage the Indian Premier League (IPL) later this year. With BCCI eyeing the September To November Window to stage the high profile T20 league and the ICC World T20 postponement further clearing the decks for the Indian cricket board to host the tournament, it will now only take the Indian government's green signal to get the biggest T20 league in the world underway. The BCCI is now all set to seek the government's approval in the coming fornight to finalise its plans for the league to be held in UAE from the last week of September. The postponement of T20 World Cup paved the way for BCCI to carve out a window for the IPL. As per the preliminary plan in place, the league will start on September 26 and conclude on November 07 or 08, with the entire season to be held in the UAE. Speaking of the BCCI's plans, IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel told India Today: "Hopefully, in next couple of weeks (BCCI) will seek clearances from the government for the tournament (IPL) to be played in the UAE". "The UAE government offered us to host the IPL in their country and we are very much aware of the facilities and situation there. The IPL (first leg) was played there (UAE) in 2014 so we know what we are looking at," Patel added. An IPL Governing Council meeting is expected to take place in a week where the senior management will finalise the details of the plan. Afterwards, the plan will be taken to the government seeking the nod which would then see the league officially being shifted to the Arab country in the wake of the rising COVID-19 cases in India. "Within a week the IPL governing council meeting will be held where the next plan of action is to be discussed," said another BCCI official, who is a member of the IPL governing Council.