Mumbai: The IPL, which was suspended for a week on May 9 amidst sharp escalation in the military conflict between India and Pakistan, is likely to resume next weekend.
No sooner was a ceasefire agreed between the two countries than the BCCI started discussions on a possible resumption date of the IPL’s 18th edition.
According to top Board officials, the T20 league could restart on May 16, with the final either on May 30 or June 1. That will mean about a week’s extension, as the IPL final was originally scheduled on May 25.
Sixteen matches remain to be played in this year’s IPL, while the fate of the abandoned game between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals at Dharamshala on May 8 has to be decided also.
The organisers are in the process of finalising the schedule. According to a CricInfo report, the remaining matches could be played at just three venues – the southern cities of Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru which were absolutely safe from any possible Pakistani misadventure.
There is another suggestion to retain most of the original 13 venues which hosted 58 games of IPL before its was suspended.
More than the schedule, what the CCI is worried about is the participation of foreign players.
Almost all overseas cricketers who were part of the 10 IPL 2025 franchises have left the shores of India following heightened tensions across the border, following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and May 7 Operation Sindoor.
To get all of them back at such a short notice won’t be easy.
“Our players and extended staff have safely returned to Bengaluru and are now homebound to their respective cities and countries,” Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) said in a statement on Saturday.
It will be especially tricky for a clutch of Australian players to return to India as they had obtained NOC from Cricket Australia (CA) till May 25. Australia will be playing the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord’s from June 11, making the revised IPL window very tight for their leading players.
The CA has reportedly left the decision on individual players, assuring that they should feel no pressure from respective IPL franchises and that it would try to help them avoid any possible sanction if they didn’t go back.
