BCCI apex council meet: No decision on IPL, Ranji games in respective zones

We cannot make an announcement on IPL 2020 till the ICC gives us a final call on the T20 World Cup, says an apex council member

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had its all-important Apex Council meeting on Friday and as expected, domestic cricket dominated the discussion as the fate of the domestic players in the country needs to be given priority with an eye on the coronavirus pandemic and its impact.

Speaking to news agency IANS, an official who was part of the meeting said that the Apex Council members were united in the thought that the domestic fixture needs to be looked at immediately and a plan was discussed to go back to the old style of each team playing games in their own zones.
 

"We had a healthy discussion on the fate of domestic cricket and how we can go forward with an eye on the travel restrictions and the important health guidelines that have come into effect due to the pandemic. Although it is at a nascent stage, but it was discussed that we could go back to having teams playing Ranji Trophy games in their own zones rather than travelling across the country as that would be much easier in the current scenario," the official said.

Asked about the fate of the Indian Premier League, the official said that an official announcement can only be made once the ICC makes an announcement with regards to the T20 World Cup which is scheduled to be played in Australia in the October-November window.

"We cannot make an announcement till the ICC gives us a final call on the T20 World Cup. But we could see an official word after Monday's ICC meeting and once that is done, we can go ahead and make the necessary announcement," the official explained.

Even though calls for postponement of the 2020 edition of the T20 World Cup have grown in the last couple of months, the ICC has preferred to play the waiting game and is yet to make an official announcement on the fate of the showpiece event.