IPL falls behind CPL, BBL in one major way for 2020 as tournament's fate remains uncertain

With England and West Indies resuming the international cricket season with three-match Test series, fans can look forward to domestic T20 action after Australia and West Indies announced the BBL 2020 schedule and CPL 2020 schedule for the upcoming season. With BBL 2020 and CPL 2020 dates confirmed the future of Indian Premier League (IPL), however, still remains in the dark.

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Why is the future of IPL 2020 still unclear?

The IPL 2020 was originally scheduled to get underway on March 29 with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings playing the opening match of the tournament opener at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. However, the tournament was postponed due to the global COVID-19 issue. 

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BCCI President Sourav Ganguly recently hinted at the possibility of IPL 2020 being conducted outside India. Ganguly opined that the country will have to bear with the COVID-19 pandemic at least till the end of this year or beginning of 2021. This statement by Sourav Ganguly effectively rules out India's chances of organising the cricketing extravaganza at home.

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had recently said that they were eyeing a September-November window to host the IPL 2020 should the ICC T20 World Cup that is scheduled to be held in Australia later this year be cancelled. With the International Cricket Council (ICC) yet to decide the fate of T20 World Cup, the fate of the IPL still hangs in balance.

BBL 2020 schedule

With the IPL schedule not out as yet, Cricket Australia (CA) has announced the BBL 2020 schedule where 61 matches will be played in space of over 2 months despite the COVID-19 pandemic. As per the BBL 2020 schedule, the tournament will start 2 weeks before than it did last year with Adelaide Strikers and Melbourne Renegades playing the opening fixture on December 3.

The final of the tournament will be played on February 6. The opening match of BBL 10 also coincides with the start of India's tour of Australia as it will be played right after the stumps of Day 1 of the 1st Test at the Gabba, Brisbane. The BBL 2020 schedule will also allow organisers some room to change fixtures in a case drastic measures is required to be taken due to COVID-19.

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CPL 2020 schedule

Coming to the CPL 2020 schedule, the entire tournament will be played behind closed doors from August 18 to September 20. The announcement of CPL 2020 schedule was made after the tournament received local government permission to host the tournament. All the matches will take place at Trinidad & Tobago. This year, the Kings XI Punjab has also joined the CPL bandwagon after the owners of the team bought the St. Lucia Zouks franchise, which will be led by West Indies' 2-time T20 World Cup-winning captain, Darren Sammy 

The CPL 2020 will feature star players turning out, with the likes of Rashid Khan, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Mohammad Nabi, Anrich Nortje among others picked in the draft. Pravin Tambe will become the first Indian to play in the tournament after getting picked by Trinbago Knight Riders in the draft. The 48-year-old who was picked up by IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL auction was later disqualified after not taking permission to play in the T10 league in Dubai.

The CPL will have the team owners of KKR and Kings XI Punjab represent Trinidad (Trinbago Knight Riders) and St. Lucia (St. Lucia Zouks) respectively.

(IMAGE: INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE/TWITTER)