The ‘unlucky’ thirteenth edition of IPL, originally scheduled to commence from March 29, has been pushed back tentatively to April 15. But it is highly unlikely that the tournament will start on the given date, with the nationwide lockdown imposed in India.
There are numerous scenarios speculated for the conduct of the cash-rich league, mostly during the vacant windows available in the subsequent months.
Rajasthan Royals’ ace wicket-keeper batsman, Jos Buttler, has registered his opinion on the tournament getting possibly cancelled, or pushed back further.
“I don’t know any more than you know about when IPL would be played or people talking about whether it can be pushed back. At the moment, everything is quite indefinite as no one knows how long it will last. So it can’t be decided at the moment when it could or could not happen,” Buttler told EspnCricinfo.
The glamourous Indian domestic league involves monumental amounts of investments which yields returns during the two-month-long tournament.
Cancellation of the event would mean the board facing massive losses, and would also affect the professionals who depend on IPL for their livelihood.
“As for the stature of the tournament, it’s a massive, massive tournament. Revenue that is involved in IPL is massive. It is a very important competition to cricket, and it’s a big shame that it’s not going ahead or whether it does have the way to push it in the schedule and allow it,” affirmed the World-Cup winning English cricketer.
With the hectic schedule in place, the availability of international players might turn out to be an issue due to bilateral commitments.
“Of course, that might mean certain players might be unavailable. They will have to work through as the situation unfolds,” concluded Jos Buttler.
After a successful tenure at Mumbai Indians as an opener, Rajasthan Royals bagged the services of Buttler for a hefty amount, ahead of their comeback post-ban in 2018.
Buttler joined the English contingent of Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Liam Livingstone at the Jaipur based franchise.
