The much-hyped all-star fixture between the North-East and South-West bound franchises has been scrapped by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Earlier, the match was scheduled to take place four days prior to the start of the tournament. However, the cricketing body did not go ahead with the above fixtures, largely due to the reluctance shown by the IPL franchises.
Stars from Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, Rajasthan Royals, and Kolkata Knight Riders, were supposed to take on stalwarts from Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the all-stars fixture. The potentially star-studded match was deliberated by BCCI President Sourav Ganguly.
According to reports, many franchises were not intimated about the event. Further, the franchises were reluctant to release their marquee players prior to the tournament, with the scare of injury.
Often players engage in promotional activities as well as training procedures before the cash-rich league commences. “It is at least not happening before the start of the IPL,” commented an anonymous franchise owner from the South according to Mid-day.
BCCI recently announced its schedule for the 2020 edition of IPL without any information about the all-star fixture, originally intended to raise funds for charity.
IPL 2020 kickoff on March 29 and will be played until May 24, with both the opener as well as the finals scheduled at the Wankhede Stadium.
Also, one of the Asia XI vs World XI match was slated to be played at the rechristened Motera Stadium. However, that match has also been ruled out, looking at the time-frame of completion of the project.
Although BCCI officials affirmed that it will release its five players for the scheduled match between World XI and Asia XI, at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka.
