BCCI urges ECB to re-schedule Ind-Eng Tests to accommodate IPL;Vaughan has a suggestion

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has come up with a unique proposal after learning that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) could re-schedule the IPL 2021 in September this year. The 14th edition of the marquee-rich event had to be suspended indefinitely with immediate effect earlier this month after a few of the players tested positive for the virus.

However, England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) managing director has gone on to say that England players will not be allowed to take part in the rearranged IPL because of their 'extremely busy' schedule. England is slated to play a few bilateral series ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup in November, which the men's team managing director and ex-spinner terming it as 'important and high-profile cricket'.

Recently, the BCCI had forwarded a written request to the English board asking for the Test series between India and England to be rescheduled to start a week earlier in order to complete the remainder of the IPL 2021.

'Simple solution': Michael Vaughan

Now, Vaughan has come up with a simple solution which according to him might benefit both BCCI as well as ECB. Taking to the micro-blogging site, the Englishman wrote that Team India must look forward to playing its first Test match a week earlier than scheduled after which he added that no England Test players would then potentially play the 100.

"so Fringe Indian Test players replace them .. Then the IPL can finish .. Good deal all round", he added.

 So did the 2005 Ashes-winning skipper's proposal have any takers? Here's what the die-hard cricket fans had to say.

IPL 2021 postponed

IPL 2021 was called off by the BCCI after multiple players tested positive for COVID-19 in separate bio-bubbles. It is not yet clear when the IPL will restart again, but media reports suggest that the BCCI could conduct the remaining matches of the cash-rich tournament in September this year, before the start of the ICC T20 World Cup. Reports suggest that the remainder of the tournament could be held in UAE later this year, where the governing body of world cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is also contemplating hosting the T20 World Cup in case the ongoing COVID-19 situation remains grim in India. 

It was earlier reported that the BCCI is mulling over conducting the remaining matches of IPL 2021 in UAE or the UK. The fate of the popular T20 competition lies in the hands of the office bearers as it will not be an easy task for them to accommodate the remaining matches in the jampacked cricketing calendar. The Indian team is scheduled to travel to the United Kingdom for the India vs New Zealand World Test Championship Final and the subsequent five-match Test series against England. The board could look to lock UK as the hosting nation for IPL 2021 during that period considering that a number of English nations have also shown interest in hosting IPL 2021 games. 

However, if BCCI decides to resume the league after the World T20 in November, they will have to go ahead with the tournament in the absence of England and Australia players. Since the previous edition of the tournament was successfully organised in the UAE, India's cricket body as kept is as an alternative alongside the UK for the IPL 2021. The UK can be a lucrative option for India as the government has been allowing crowds for sporting events. This will mean that the franchises will have an additional source of revenue in the form of ticket sales.