The 14th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to start in the second week of April after the conclusion of Women’s one-day tournament and the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
The BCCI and IPL Governing Council (IPL GC) has almost zeroed down on the tentative dates and venues for the upcoming IPL. As per sources privy to the development, the T20 extravaganza will start on April 11 and conclude in the first week of June, on either June 5 or June 6.
“The final decision will be taken by IPL GC but 11th April is the tentative date to start IPL 2021. The series against England finishes in March and players will get a good break with 11th April start for IPL 14th,” the BCCI official was quoted as saying to TOI.
With the England tour scheduled to end on March 28, it will give ample time to the Indian players to complete their commercial endorsements for their respective franchises.
The mini-auction is slated to be held in Chennai after the completion of the first two Tests.
BCCI’s treasurer Arun Dhumal has confirmed that the board is confident that it would be able to host the 2021 edition of the cash-rich tournament at home unlike the last season, which took place in the UAE due to COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are working on having the IPL in India and we are hopeful that we would be able to organise it. We are not even thinking of a back up also at this point in time, we are wanting to do it here.
“India is probably safer than UAE at this point. Hopefully, the situation remains stable and keep improving and we will have it here,” said Dhumal.
The BCCI has earmarked the Wankhede Stadium, Brabourne Stadium, DY Patil Stadium, Reliance Cricket Stadium in Navi Mumbai and the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune for the league games.
The Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad will also be considered as one of the venues and is more likely to host the knockout games as the tournament moves towards the business end in the last week of May.
