The condition of Coronavirus pandemic is worsening in India. There are more than 6 lakhs people affected by COVID-19. It seems things are getting out of hand and this leaves no opportunity for the BCCI to host IPL 2020 in India in the September-November window.
The 13th edition of the IPL is likely to be moved outside the country. Sri Lanka board has officially offered to host the IPL, while UAE has previously hosted IPL so it knows how to successfully host the world’s biggest T20 league.
A BCCI official told IANS: “We are yet to decide on the venue but in all probability, it is going outside this year. The condition in India doesn’t look suited to have so many teams come in at one or two venues and then create an atmosphere which will be safe for the players as well as the general public even though the games may be played behind closed doors.”
“The race is between UAE and Sri Lanka and we will need to decide on where we host the league depending on the situation there with regards to the Coronavirus pandemic. Logistics also need to be looked into, so we will decide soon.”
BCCI will suffer a huge loss of around Rs 4,000 crores if they are unable to host the cash-rich league. BCCI has previously hosted the IPL outside India in two occasions. In 2009, the complete tournament was played in South Africa while in 2014, the first 20 matches were played in UAE.
Since UAE has hosted IPL in past, it remains the front-runner but Sri Lanka is very close to India so it will help the logistics. BCCI is waiting for an official word regarding the future of T20 World Cup before taking a final decision regarding IPL 2020.
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