Published: May 21, 2020, 08:49 AM (IST)
Edited: May 21, 2020, 08:49 AM (IST)
All hope is not lost as the Indian cricket board is keeping a positive outlook with regards to the fate of IPL this year despite the league being suspended indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic.
BCCI CEO Rahul Johri has said that once the lockdown restrictions are further eased leading to resumption of flights, the board will chalk out the schedule keeping in mind the various factors involved including the need to quarantine cricketers.
BCCI is hopeful of staging the event post monsoon despite the challenges involved.
“When flights resume, everyone has to quarantine themselves before playing,” Johri was quoted as saying by The Times of India. “We will have to look at how that will impact the schedules, which as it is are tight. Imagine you have to factor in 14-day quarantine prior to practice also. So, there are a lot of moving parts. But we are still optimistic. Hopefully, the situation will improve after monsoon, and we will approach it then.”
Johri said things won’t improve dramatically but steadily and IPL will lead the way owing to its huge popularity in the country.
“More people watched the IPL last year than those who voted for general elections. For sponsors, cricket is a leader and it will lead the way. The recovery will be sharper than a V-shaped recovery,” he said.
“It will be a step-by-step process. We can’t expect normalisation tomorrow,” he added.
On Wednesday reports emerged of BCCI exploring the September-November window to organise IPL meaning its hoping that the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup this year will be postponed.
