IPL news: 2 major hurdles for Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI to conduct IPL 2021 in UAE confirmed

The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) is certainly in a lot of demand as far as conducting cricket in the country is concerned. The ECB is soon going to face a problem of 'plenty' as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), and even the International Cricket Council (ICC) need venues in the UAE to organize PSL 2021, IPL 2021 and potentially the T20 World Cup 2021.

IPL news: Sourav Ganguly-led board has major problems to conduct remainder of IPL 2021

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is prevalent in India and Pakistan which has resulted in the UAE becoming Asia’s premier sporting destination. The PSL 2021 is slated to start in the first week of June. Subsequently, the BCCI is planning to hold the remainder of IPL 2021 between September 15 - October 15. Moreover, the PCB has two bilateral series (against Afghanistan and New Zealand) scheduled in September. On top of that, the ICC has kept UAE as the backup venue for T20 World Cup that is supposed to be played in India from October 18. There also lies ECB's own domestic and international commitments.

With a jam-packed cricketing calendar in the UAE, BCCI has two major problems that could hinder the staging of IPL 2021 in the UAE.

• Maintaining the quality of cricket on wickets with so much cricketing action.
• If ICC moves T20 World Cup 2021 to the UAE, the ECB will have to hand over the grounds to the apex-cricketing council by October 1, which will jeopardize holding the IPL 2021.

As a result, the ECB has been in a fix because it will be some task to hold all the aforementioned fixtures in the UAE without compromising on the quality of cricket. ECB sources have revealed that they have made it clear to the BCCI that in case the ICC shifts the T20 World Cup out of India, they have to give possession of the grounds to them by October 1 which will make IPL 2021 in the UAE impossible. However, if the BCCI somehow manages to conduct the remainder of the IPL 2021 in the UAE, sustaining so much cricket on the wickets will become extremely difficult as pitches will become slower, resulting in low-scoring games.

Furthermore, Pakistan are scheduled to play three ODIs against Afganistan in September which will need a week at least. The Men in Green will then take on the Kiwis in a three-match ODI series and as many T20Is which will take around 15 days. With the BCCI looking for the September 15-October 15 window for IPL 2021, it will be impossible for the ECB to conduct both simultaneously.

Another obstacle the BCC could face is to vaccinate all the IPL 2021-related personnel. As many as 700-800 people including players, their families, match officials, coaching staff, franchise officials and BCCI officials are present in the IPL. While Team India's players have been vaccinated, a number of domestic players are yet to get vaccinated. Providing vaccination to everyone amidst such a shortage will be a massive problem for the Sourav Ganguly-led board.

SOURCE: PTI/ IPL TWITTER