There has been some suggestion that the Indian Premier League might be the first significant cricket event to return.
Image copyright – Steve Haag Sports
The organisers of the T20 World Cup in Australia reportedly want the tournament to go ahead as scheduled in October, but others feel the window should be surrendered to the IPL.
There are of course pros and cons to the notion of returning to action with the Indian franchise tournament which has become a global event attracting huge audiences all over the world.
The restart would be subject to massive changes taking place in India. However, it is believed that the IPL has investigated the possibility of staging the event in the United Arab Emirates.
Australia’s sports minister has opposed the idea of allowing fans in for the T20 World Cup but even the prospect of hosting 15 foreign international teams and their technical staff as well as journalists presents considerable challenges.
The IPL would see players having to travel by air regardless of where it is staged, but most of them would do so as individuals, and the big-money league might just be the best carrot to get players on board.
In other sports, players have been opposed to a return to play as early as June. The IPL has been postponed indefinitely, but organisers are reluctant to call the whole thing off given the massive losses they would incur.
The T20 World Cup would likely overlap with the gradual restart of the domestic game across the globe. India’s domestic programme has been decimated, but they are hopeful the tour to Australia planned for December can go ahead.
Former Cricket Australia director Mark Taylor has backed the proposal to have the IPL held in the window initially designated for the T20 World Cup. Taylor feels that holding the IPL in place of the T20 World Cup would give Australia more chance of staging a successful and lucrative series against India.
The IPL might be an easier sell for players who could feel uncomfortable refusing to play in the World Cup and players who did play would be richly rewarded.
