BCCI CEO: "We Are Sure of Conducting IPL 2020, Complying With All Aspects Around" - Report!

Minutes after the best cricket news went viral regarding Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 which will soon to be hosted, Rahul Johri, CEO of the BCCI confirmed and believes that the 13th edition of the IPL can be held with both Indian and international players once the monsoon seasons ends. 

The IPL, which was supposed to be held earlier this year in March 29 got postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. “IPL is one of the greatest engagers. More people watched the IPL last year than those who voted for general elections. For sponsors, cricket is a leader and it will lead the way. The recovery will be sharper than a V-shaped recovery. The flavour of IPL is that best players of the world come and play, and everyone is committed to maintaining that flow. But it will be a step-by-step process. We can’t expect normalisation tomorrow,” Johri said at the TCM Sports Huddle webinar.  

He further confirmed on the reports saying that players’ decision to participate or not would be respected.

When he was asked if guidelines will be allowed or followed in stadiums, Johri said: “We will be guided by the government guidelines. Our advisory says: IPL is suspended till further notice. We are engaging with various agencies. After the current phase of lockdown ends, there is the monsoon. Cricketing activities can start only after monsoon. By then, hopefully things will improve.”

“When flights resume, everyone has to quarantine themselves before playing. We will have to look at how that will impact the schedules, which as it is are tight. Imagine you have to factor in 14-day quarantine prior to practice also. So, there are a lot of moving parts. But we are still optimistic. Hopefully, the situation will improve after monsoon, and we will approach it then,” he later added. 

Followed by another round of questions, when BCCI CEO was asked again on holding IPL without spectators, he stated that: “It will not just be in IPL but also international cricket. Although it (gate receipts) gives us small percentage of our revenue, it is important because bulk of that goes in maintenance of stadiums. However, in the short term, before we get back to normal, we can live without (spectators) it.” 

Johri also accepted that scheduling IPL 2020 will not be easy even in October-November this year.