Harsha Bhogle predicts T20 leagues will be held more than international cricket soon

In the midst of coronavirus-induced India lockdown, Indian cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle recently made his Instagram Live debut to interact with fans. In the session, Bhogle discussed various cricketing matters such as the game resuming once the ongoing crisis diminishes. The commentator also gave his take on the impact of the contagious disease on cricket and the growing financial problems worldwide cricket boards are currently facing.

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India lockdown: Harsha Bhogle on cricket post coronavirus

In the live session, Harsha Bhogle was asked by a fan whether if spectators would be willing to sit in crowds to view a five-day Test match in a post-coronavirus world. In reply, the 58-year old said that he believes Test cricket will go on as usual and cited the example of Cricket Australia’s reported contemplating of hosting India in five Test matches at a single venue later this year. However, Harsha Bhogle also said that cricket boards all over the world are likely to prioritise their T20 leagues for a couple of years in order to remunerate the losses they suffered during the coronavirus phase.

Harsha Bhogle was of the opinion that a tournament like the IPL will garner more audiences, thus generating more revenue for the BCCI. On the other hand, playing in an ICC event might help smaller nations but not the bigger ones who have suffered major losses, adding more burden on them since they are major contributors to ICC revenues ironically. In a recent tweet, Bhogle had predicted that he won't be surprised if the IPL takes place over the T20 World Cup in the October-November window this year should India recover from the pandemic by then. 

India lockdown: Harsha Bhogle makes Instagram live debut

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T20 leagues like Indian Premier League (IPL) and Big Bash League generate hefty revenues for their respective boards. In fact, if IPL 2020 gets cancelled this year, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and all the stakeholders involved with the tournament will reportedly lose over ₹3,800 crore. With the possibility of multiple bilateral international assignments either to get postponed or cancelled, the BCCI and the International Cricket Council (ICC) are likely to incur more losses on a separate note.

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India lockdown: Coronavirus impact on IPL 2020

The much-awaited IPL 2020 was originally intended to launch on March 29 and conclude on May 24. However, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly recently stated that there are no plans of staging any cricketing activities in the country as of now.  The IPL 2020 was widely dubbed by many cricketing experts as a perfect preparation campaign for the T20 World Cup. Incidentally, the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to be played in October-November is also clouded with much uncertainty at the moment.

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