LONDON, CMC – A top Caribbean Premier League official hopes Indian Premier League organisers can sensibly determine the best window to stage the lucrative Twenty20 showpiece, following the announcement this week it had been suspended indefinitely.
Chief operations officer, Pete Russell, said CPL was hoping to push ahead with its tournament in August 19 to September 26 and wanted to therefore avoid a clash with their Asian counterparts, who boasted the world’s largest T20 event. The IPL was scheduled to bowl off March 29 but delayed the start until April 15 because of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) said this week they were unsure now of when the tournament would be played.
“We wouldn’t go up against it,” Russell was quoted as saying.
“While I know the BCCI is all-powerful in these things, there has to be some sensible consideration around what players and other leagues are doing.”
India is currently under national lockdown until month end to mitigate against the spread of the virus which has already led to nearly 14 800 infections and nearly 500 deaths.
And even if the Indian government lifts the curfew, the IPL is expected to face the challenge of securing overseas players from nations where curfews are also in place.
Russell said avoiding a clash with the IPL was critical especially for the marquee Caribbean players all of whom were contracted to franchises.
“I think IPL would want all the West Indian players to be playing in their tournament – it wouldn’t make sense for them to play at the same time as CPL when a lot of their stars are playing with us,” Russell noted.
“That would defeat the objective. I don’t think they need to do that, either. They can figure out their own window, for sure.”
The BCCI said this week it had spoken to IPL franchise owners who were open to staging the tournament in December if necessary.
A plethora of West Indies stars feature in the IPL including the likes of superstars Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard.
