Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 to go ahead in 2020: 

Due to COVID19 the Indian Premier League (IPL) like many other top sporting events which were meant to take place between March and June this year have been either postponed or cancelled. The decision to postpone the IPL was the correct one, and now government officials and the leaders from each team are exploring options to reschedule the event for later this year.

With the cricket calendar very congested, the IPL would like to stake their claim that this event can take a slot in the remaining months of the year to ensure the tournament goes ahead. A key decision to look at is whether the tournament happens in India as it would not be the first time that the IPL has headed overseas if the decision is to export the tournament for this year.

The IPL has eight teams from different cities in India which are the Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians who are the record winners with four victories, plus Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals, Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The key issue in moving the tournament outside of India will affect each team’s revenue given every match has a strong crowd and amount lost from not maximizing the food, beverage, ticket sales and hospitality will be one each team needs to consider. Commercial partners could also be a problem given many would have looked to activate the rights that have during the tournament in each of the cities which host matches.

For the homegrown players, moving the tournament abroad may cause an issue, however, the top overseas players should not have any worries as the tournament wouldn’t have been on home soil for them.

Moving Indian Premier League (IPL) overseas 

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is keen to take the Indian Premier League this year and has shown an interest in hosting the event. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah all hosted matches during the 2014 IPL and they want to be seen as a venue that can host the biggest sporting events in the world.

Cricket is becoming more popular in regions of (UAE) and with the virus causing a postponement, all options are being explored. For organisers of the tournament, it would not be the first time that the IPL has headed overseas, given that South Africa hosted the full tournament in 2009.

Cricket Calendar in 2020

Arguably the biggest factor in the IPL going ahead is what happens with the Asia Cup and also the ICC T20 world cup which is meant to be held in Australia in October and November this year. 

If the Asia Cup didn’t go ahead, then the IPL could take its place and be played in September and early October which could then lead straight onto the ICC T20 world cup in Australia. Logistics would be an issue but in principle, it would mean two back to back T20 tournaments which would be seen globally by millions and played by the best players in the world. 

Each government and tournament officials will have their own agenda as to the importance of each tournament and to allow the event to go ahead with no or limited fans. A key factor could well be the financial implications of a tournament not going ahead. As seen in Football, top European leagues have restarted their seasons given the huge losses it would have caused.

As detailed at the start of the article, the IPL 2020 has a lot of sponsors and investment via broadcast partners and should the event not proceed, it would mean any upfront payments having to be paid back

Therefore all options are being considered to ensure the tournament can be fit in the reworked cricket calendar for 2020 and whether it’s in India with no or limited fans or taken overseas, tournament and government officials are desperate to finalise a decision and get the tournament to go ahead.