IPL 2021: First week of March crucial for BCCI, 3 big decisions to be taken at IPL GC

IPL 2021 Venue , Dates and Schedule: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is running against the time to finalise the fate of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. And with the rise in COVID-19 cases, they will now have to act fast and give IPL Franchises, Sponsors and broadcasters a road map for IPL 2021. It is being reliably learnt that IPL Governing Council (IPL GC) meeting will be scheduled in first week of March to decide all matters pending related to IPL 2021.

IPL GC in 1st Week of March: The IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel will have a task at hand along with both BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and Secretary Jay Shah as they all sit down to come up with a most crucial decision on where will IPL 2021 held ?

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In the next IPL Governing council meeting, the decision-makers will have three big questions apropos IPL 2021 they need to find an answer to –

Decision 1 – IPL 2021 venue: Where will IPL 2021 be held?

BCCI are in a catch-22 situation whether the cricketing extravaganza should be held in India or in UAE. With the increase in COVID-19 cases in some parts of the country, there have been calls of moving the league to UAE for the consecutive year.

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BCCI Treasurer Arun Dhumal said the Indian cricket board is still monitoring the situation. “We are still in a dicey situation due to the increase in COVID-19 cases,” he told InsideSport.

Decision 2 – IPL 2021 dates: When will the IPL 2021 begin?

Though it is being speculated that IPL 2021 will start from April 11th, the Indian cricket board is yet to officially announce the dates for the 14th edition. BCCI will take the final call, says Dhumal, on the matter after the Test series between India and England which ends on March 8.

“We will finalise the dates after India vs England test series, currently we don’t have definite answers,” Dhumal said.

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Decision 3 – IPL 2021 schedule and fixtures?

According to the information available with InsideSport.co, the IPL 2021 broadcasters have requested BCCI to finalize the full schedule and fixtures at least 1 month in advance. According to the broadcaster they have to make necessary arrangements for IPL 2021 so the final schedules are requested at least 30 days before the 1st bowl is bowled in IPL 2021.

“The broadcaster will need at least a month’s time to make preparations for its execution and also sell inventory. Hence a decision on the same must be taken soon,” a source in the know-how said.