Indian Premier League (IPL) was scheduled to be played by 29th March. Coronavirus stamped a bracket in front of all the sports activities. Cricket in India and across the Earth has been badly influenced amid Coronavirus outbreak. The global health crisis first pushed the money-rich league to the latest window of April-May but, with an extension in the lockdown by the Indian government, IPL has been delayed until any further notice.
Indian cricketing authorities are in favour of scheduling IPL before ICC’s mega-event, ICC T20 men’s World Cup so it could also serve as a practising platform for their players, and for the sake of saving their profits and revenues as well. However, T20 World Cup which has been scheduled to be kicked off by 18th October can face obstacles in its way due to the rescheduling of the Indian T20 League. It can also grant disruption to the Asia Cup scheduled for a window of September.
Wasim Khan, the CEO of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has clearly mentioned that Pakistan will not be in favour of supporting IPL over Asia Cup. It is Asia Cup that must be held on its due schedule and we won’t compromise on it for the Indian T20 league, says Wasim Khan.
He also mentioned that in the recently held meeting by the officials of ICC, no news regarding rescheduling IPL has been made.
It will not have our support. Our stance is absolutely clear; the Asia Cup is set for September and the only reason it should not take place is continued health safety issues. We will not accept that the Asia Cup is moved to accommodate the IPL,” Khan was quoted as saying on GTV News Channel.
“I have heard that there is talk to move the Asia Cup to November-December but for us, that is not possible. If you move the Asia Cup you are making way for one member nation and that is not right and it will not have our support,” he added.
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