CHENNAI: IN its first meeting since the new BCCI Apex Council came into existence on October 23, the IPL governing council on Tuesday will discuss the roadmap for next year’s tournament.
The meeting will be chaired by former India cricketer Brijesh Patel and also see two others in attendance: Khairul Jamal Majumdar and Surinder Khanna. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly is unlikely to attend the meeting.
With the IPL auction for next season scheduled in Kolkata in December, the governing council will chalk out strategies for successfully organising the 13th edition of the cash-rich league.
It was also reported that BCCI plans to stretch the tournament slightly in the next edition, and the same is likely to be discussed in the meeting. Given the new plan, the tournament will be held almost completely across April and May.
“It’s the first meeting, so the basic aim is to discuss future strategies. The auction is scheduled in Kolkata next month. It’s better to start the process right now so that every plan is executed to the perfection,” said a source privy to the development.
‘Not aware of development’
Though talks have been doing the rounds for the introduction of player substitution from the next edition, an IPL governing council member said that he was not aware of this. “I too have heard about it but I can say that I am not aware of it at the moment. Let’s see what happens in the meeting,” he told this daily.
As per reports, the Power Player is a unique concept wherein teams will not announce their respective playing XI ahead of a match. Instead, a 15-strong squad will be announced. A player can be substituted either at the fall of a wicket or at the end of an over. However, the fate of this will only be decided by the BCCI president.
A franchise owner also told this daily that the concept has not been discussed with the teams. “Usually, the franchises are taken into confidence before introducing a new concept in the tournament. We haven’t been informed about it yet.”