IPL 2021 Dates & Schedule: As reported by InsideSport.co earlier, the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League is all set to start from 9th April. The finals of the IPL 2021 has been advanced and will now be played on 30th May so that Indian cricketers get ample time before World Test Championship Finals scheduled for 18th June against New Zealand.
IPL 2021 Venues – is likely to be held across 6 venues in India. IPL 2021 will be played in Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, New Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai in bio-secure environments and it will be a 52-day tournament with 60 matches overall.
IPL 2021 Dates: WTC Finals reason for advancing IPL Finals dates by 1 week
IPL 2021 Schedule: The finals of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) will be brought forward a week. India has made it to the WTC Finals and that is the reason BCCI is all but agreed to advance the finals by 1 week. Once the IPL GC meets formally they will give formal approvals for the dates, venue and schedule.
On the other hand, England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) also wanted that England players in IPL should end their commitments in IPL by May end so that they can participate in 2 test series against New Zealand. The 1st test of England vs New Zealand test series starts on June 2nd and ECB wants the likes of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow and Jofra Archer should be available for the clash against World No. 1 Kiwis – this is the reason BCCI has now almost decided to start IPL 2021 on 9th April and play the finals on May 30th.
IPL 2021 – IPL GC Meeting: Meanwhile when on Thursday InsideSport.co reached out to IPL GC Chairman Brijesh Patel for his official take on Dates, Schedule and Venues of IPL 2021, he informed that all issues will be handled in the IPL Governing Council meeting. The said meeting will decide the exact dates, IPL venues and schedules for IPL 2021.
“Date for IPL governing council meeting has not been finalised yet. It could be in person or may be through video. It’s yet to be finalised. We will let you know. But it will be held very shortly. All the concerns about the venues and the itinerary will be addressed during the agenda of the meeting,” IPL Governing Council Chairman Brijesh Patel told InsideSport.co over the phone.
IPL Chairman said that only the Governing Council was authorised to come out with a final list of venues, dates and schedule for the IPL 2021. He also confirmed to InsideSport that IPL GC will also address concerns of all the franchises during the meeting.
“There is no point in speculating about the venues. All decisions are taken only during the meeting. All I can say is nothing on venues has been decided as yet and it will only be finalised after consultation with and listening to the concerns of the franchisees. We are adopting a wait and watch policy as of now.”