IPL trophy
With the rise in concern over the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus across the world, major sporting leagues and even Olympic qualifiers have been suspended or postponed. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) too suspended the 13th Indian Premier League (IPL) season until April 15 looking at the health risk of the players and those involved in the annual cricket carnival of the nation. Even the foreign visas for overseas players have been put on hold until April 15. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly later said last Saturday that the league might even be a truncated one if situations failed to improve and that the board will assess possible scenarios every week.
But no headways were made on Monday during a teleconference of the eight IPL franchise owners as the number of positive cases registered increased to 114 and two deaths for COVID-19.
"Nothing concrete was discussed in today's meeting (con-call). It was just a follow-up meeting. The situation has not changed in 48 hours, so talking about hosting the IPL is still pre-mature," an IPL franchise owner told PTI on conditions of anonymity. "We have to wait and watch. We will keep doing these con calls on a weekly basis to take stock of the situation."
We now take a look at some of the possibilities left with BCCI to hold a full-fledged IPL, if...the situation improves:
1) Group-based IPL: It was indeed among the points discussed during the teleconference. Had there been a full-fledged IPL season, from the scheduled March 29 till May 24, there would have been 57 matches. If divided into two groups, where each side plays the other twice (one home and the other away), followed by the top two teams qualifying for the playoffs, then total matches would be reduced to 28. It would go down to 27 if top two teams play the knockouts in the semifinal format.
2) One home, one away system: Instead of each side playing the other seven twice in the league as per the usual IPL system, if each team engages in only one match against the other seven, the total games would be reduced to just 28, including the playoffs.
3) 2009 format: If the situation across the nation does improve significantly, leaving IPL with some good time in hand, the council can look towards the 2009 format of hosting. Back in 2009, the then chairman of IPL, Lalit Modi, had hosted the tournament in South Africa owing to the clash of dates with the general elections. The tournament was completed only within 37 days with a total of 59 matches and the knockouts had just two semifinals.
4) Increase in double-headers: It was also among the points discussed on Monday in the IPL meeting. The original schedule included just 6 double-headers days. But if BCCI were to increase the number of double-headers then have to look at logistics as well.
5) Reducing the number of venues: This was another strategy used in the 2009 format. Lesser venues imply less time spent in travelling and subsequently, a lesser logistic burden. This would also make increased double-headers possible.
