While the much-awaited 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) set to commence from September 19 in the UAE, – but the Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) has already started deliberating on the IPL 2021. The impact of Covid19 will not only be felt in IPL 2020 but the 14th edition of IPL i.e in 2021 will also be impacted by its repercussions. According to a report by TOI, the Indian board will not host the mega-auction for the next edition of IPL.
The major challenge ahead for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is to find a new title sponsor after the withdrawal of Vivo. The franchises too are busy preparing for the tournament. While the COVID-19 pandemic has made matters worse for the economy, there is a probability that fans might not get to see the mega IPL auction which was planned ahead of IPL 2021.
Not to forget, the BCCI will have to embrace two IPL seasons after IPL 2020 was postponed for an indefinite period due to corona pandemic and now finally has been rescheduled to September 19. While the tournaments final will be played on November 10, the franchisees were expected to build their teams from scratch for the 2021 season – an event that would have grabbed plenty of eyeballs.
Nevertheless, The Times of India has reported, that the BCCI is planning to let go of the auction as there’s not much time left. In this situation, all eight franchises would be expected to continue with their current squads.
“What’s the point in doing a mega auction now and not have enough time to plan it properly? IPL might as well go ahead and finish the 2021 edition of the tournament and then see how it wants to go about,” a source told TOI.
According to the report, this issue was discussed in the franchise meet last week and the franchises also agree with the idea of no IPL auction considering the gap between IPL 2020 and the start of IPL 2021 is around four and a half months. The franchises ideally need 3-4 months to get their strategies in place for a mega auction.
