The Apex Council meeting of the BCCI held online on Friday lasted more than four hours. Though no decision was made public because of legal complications, the meeting convened by Secretary Jay Shah more or less zeroed in on the United Arab Emirates as the venue for IPL 2020.
The members were apparently unanimous in choosing UAE, mainly due to its state-of-the-art facilities. The New Indian Express was first to report on June 12 that the BCCI was looking at UAE as a destination for IPL. It is scheduled in October-November, provided the T20 World Cup in Australia is cancelled. Sri Lanka was also an option, but the Apex Council felt UAE is better equipped to create bio-secure environments.
“Sri Lanka isn’t a viable option because we have to use at least three venues and it will necessitate air travel. But in UAE, teams can cover all three cities — Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah — on road. Also, accommodation will be easy to arrange,” a member, who attended the meeting, told The New Indian Express.
The BCCI will now hold a meeting of the IPL Governing Council next week. There are indications that the eight franchises will also invited be for talks before formal announcements are made.
With regards to the upcoming domestic season, the Apex Council decided to wait and watch before finalising the format of Ranji Trophy. As reported, the men’s domestic season will not begin before December and the BCCI is thinking of having women’s matches in November if the situation is conducive.
Though the BCCI was expected to change the Future Tours Programme of the men’s and women’s teams, the members decided to wait for the government to issue guidelines. “There is no immediate home series lined up. The next one is against England in February. There is time to modify the calendar. Even the broadcaster has to be kept in the loop if we are going to change things. Since that series is under the World Test Championship, changes require ICC’s permission too,” said the member.
Eligibility point raised
According to sources, Alka Rehani Bharadwaj, CAG nominee in the Apex Council, objected to Shah convening the meeting, as his tenure is over as per the BCCI constitution. It is learnt that her objection was registered, but the members apparently told her since an appeal is pending in Supreme Court, the board will maintain status quo on the issue.