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According to the latest reports, former Australian skipper Mark Taylor has put the possibility of an IPL tournament to take place if there is no chance of the T20I cricket world cup taking place during the October-November period in 2020. According to him, "I think that's the most likely scenario [postponement of T20 World Cup] because 15 teams planning to come to Australia between October and November, 45 matches over a proposed seven venues. In the world that we live in, international travel is going to be extremely difficult."

He added, "Fourteen days isolation before that makes it even harder. More than likely that event is not going ahead. So if the ICC were to postpone that event, that will open the door for the BCCI to say that 'we will have our IPL in India' which actually puts the onus back on individuals whether they want to travel rather than nations moving whole teams over to a certain country."

Indian Premier League (Image Courtesy: Wisden)

This can be very significant in terms of the emergence of Indian cricket as a global power if they can arrange the 13th instalment of the IPL to happen amidst the COVID-19 scare. This will not only pave the way for the BCCI to become a pioneer in how to arrange a global event in the post-COVID atmosphere but will also be an example to follow for the governing bodies of cricket all over the world. Now it is to be seen how Cricket Australia fares with the possibility of the postponement of the T20I cricket world or makes an attempt to go ahead with it in the latter part of the year.

Cricket Australia Chief Executive Kevin Roberts, however, is of the opinion that a final decision on the postponement of the global event will be taken on the basis of a video conference that will happen on May 28th by ICC on the future of cricket in the post Coronavirus period. Now it is to be seen how things fare out in the future in terms of the fate of both the T20I world cup as well as the IPL.

Featured Image Courtesy: Wide World Of Sports- Nine