IPL 2021: The BCCI is honing in on the possibility of conducting the second half of IPL 2021 in the UAE in a window between September 18 and October 12. For that to happen, however, it would require a rejigging of various boards’ calendars, not least the CPL which is scheduled to start on August 28. If the BCCI does push ahead with these dates it would mean that the IPL ends only around a week before the mooted start of the ICC’s T20 World Cup, which may also be held in the UAE.

After weeks of speculation and discussion, it looks like the cash-rich league will resume just four days after the conclusion of India’s five-Test series against England. The board official revealed that the weekend of September 18-19 will mark the resumption, while the final will be played on the weekend of October 9-10.

 

“The BCCI has spoken to all the stakeholders and the likely start should be between September 18th to 20th. Since September 18 is a Saturday and 19 a Sunday, it is more likely that you would want to restart it on a weekend date. Similarly, October 9th or 10th will be the final as it’s a weekend,” a person privy to the developments told PTI.

 

The BCCI also opened up informal dialogue with the ECB last week to explore the feasibility of tweaking the schedule of the five-Test series between England and India, which will be played between August 4 and September 14. An earlier end to that series could allow enough of a window for the IPL. That is an equally difficult request to consider, given the ECB’s own packed schedule this summer, including the launch of The Hundred.

 

As of now, Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals (DC) sit pretty on top of the IPL 2021 table with 6 wins from 8 games played. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) occupy the second and third spots respectively – both on 10 points each – while defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) complete the top four.