BCCI SGM on May 29 to decide on T20 World Cup venue and IPL

CHENNAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has called for a Special General Meeting on May 29 to “discuss the upcoming cricket season in view of the pandemic situation prevailing in India.” The meeting holds significance with the BCCI needing to take a huge call about hosting the T20 World Cup scheduled for October-November. Also among discussion will be the upcoming domestic season and the IPL 2021, which stands suspended mid-way through the tournament.

As reported previously, the United Arab Emirates is being considered as the safe option to host the World Cup. But it will be seen as a huge setback for the BCCI. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is supposed to take a decision on the venue in its meeting in June and all things suggest that the BCCI will ask for more time. Before it conveys its decision to the ICC, the BCCI wants to hear from the state units too as such decisions need the support of its members.

The BCCI is ready to present the state units with a couple of options with the primary one being to keep the T20 World Cup at home. But that would mean the BCCI will have to restrict the number of venues to three or four as against the nine it has planned. The second option is to stage the T20 World Cup in the UAE, but treat the tournaments as their own, which might dent India's image. It is understood that not all state units are keen on this, but should the BCCI feel it is not safe to play the tournament in India, it should leave it to the ICC to decide on the host venue. That would mean in case the event is moved to the UAE, India doesn't necessarily remain as hosts, even technically.

Meanwhile, with regards to resuming the suspended IPL, the BCCI is understood to have started exploring a possible window before the T20 World Cup. With Ashes schedule out and Australia playing Afghanistan on November 17, the chances of hosting the IPL after the World Cup is all but ruled out. The only remaining option is to find a window before the global event and the BCCI is understood to have opened talks with the other member boards to see if the Future Tours Programme can be altered in any way.
It is learnt that the BCCI has started back-channel communication with the England and Wales Cricket Board whether the upcoming five-match Test series in the UK can be reduced to four. That would provide one more additional week for the BCCI to host the event, but whether other member boards will release their players still remains a big question.

For this to materialise, the BCCI is even planning to advance its scheduled home limited-overs assignment against South Africa and New Zealand. The white-ball team that is heading to Sri Lanka will get to play these two series too.