Indian Premier League (IPL) will enter its thirteenth edition in 2020. Much before the upcoming new season, there's highly likely that IPL might witness a change in scheduled kick-off date of March 29. A few days ago, in the IPL governing council meeting, it was learned that IPL 2020 might be played between March 29 and May 24.
While the meeting happened in January, there hasn't been any official confirmation from the IPL governing council (GC) regarding the start date of the new season. However, talking to the reporters just after the meeting, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly alluded to a start date of March 29.
But it seems that even the IPL franchisees are not happy with the IPL beginning in the last week of March. If the IPL kick-starts on March 29, it is likely that some of the teams will miss the services of a few of their key overseas players. The players from England and Australia will be busy in their national duties and will only be able to arrive in the first week of April. This will mean that IPL teams won't be able to start their 2020 campaign with their full-strength squads available for selection.
The official confirmation on the start date is yet to be announced. In all likelihood, the IPL date is expected to be shifted in the first week of April. It will also depend on the ICC meeting, which is meant to take place in the last week of March.
“Once there’s clarity on who’ll be India’s board representative at ICC, that individual will also have to be at the ICC meetings. They’ll have to take a re-look at the starting date of the IPL once again,” a source told TOI.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah who is India's representative at ICC will be present in the meeting.
