The next IPL season is likely to be a bit longer as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is mulling the option of having more night games.
The BCCI is together working on a plan where each team plays only one day game in the entire season and fewer double-headers on weekends. With the IPL having a full 60 day-window, a proposed schedule will be put to the new IPL Governing Council in the upcoming week.
The IPL 2020 is likely to start on April 1 and could end by May 30.
However, there is no clarity over whether the new BCCI regime will maintain the 15-day gap between the end of IPL and the India’s next international assignment, as the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators had done during its time in charge.
Meanwhile, the BCCI has approached the Cricket Club of India (CCI) with an offer to host the IPL opening ceremony next year.
It is likely that the opening ceremony will not be held on the same day as the first match. The CoA in 2018 organized opening ceremonies at all the venues, but this year decided not to do so and the money thus saved was earmarked for families of CRPF personnel killed in the Pulwama attack.
The IPL 2019 ceremony was a token affair that had low-budget entertainer ahead of the season opener between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
