As the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League is suspended indefinitely, a spanner has been thrown into the schedules of the Indian cricket team. BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla on Tuesday clarified that the IPL 2021 season has been postponed and not canceled. And now will be tasked to make room in the already filled calendar to finish off the rest of the IPL season.
Every ardent cricket fan will be void of cricket and will be on the lookout for what's next. And so we take a look at the calendar to find the main cricketing events to take place in the coming months.
England vs New Zealand
Starting off, we would see the Kiwi gaining much-needed match experience in English playing conditions ahead of their World Test Championship final against India. The England New Zealand series will be a two-match test series before the kiwis play the penultimate WTC final. The first Test match is set to take place in London from June 2-6 and the second Test from June 10-14 in Birmingham.
World Test Championship Final
Virat Kohli and co will mark their official return to cricket after the latest edition of the IPL being halted halfway. With the inaugural WTC trophy at play, both sets of fans of the opposite sides will be coveting their team to bring home this unique championship. With the English conditions favoring the kiwis more, this final could be in for a summer blockbuster to see if India can pull off this latest victory.
The Hundred
This domestic tournament will be the new product of the English Cricket Board, touted to be an action-packed 100 ball cricket tournament that would put the fans on the edge of their seats. Featuring eight city-based teams, the tournament will involve world-class players from around the world combined with the local English players. Set to begin on July 22nd with 34 matches to be played, this will be something to look out for.
The Hundred (Women)
This domestic tournament will also see a women’s cricket version, with many International stars roped in to play the game. With four Indian players already registered with teams in the Hundred, there are talks of a fifth player Shafali Verma, ICC's No 1 ranked T20 batter joining the tournament. Furthermore, there is news of Five South African players contracted to join the squads in the competition, with more players set to join. With the competition commencing on 4th August, a lot of hopes will be riding on this one.
England vs India
After the WTC final, Virat Kohli and co will follow it up with a series against the English. England will be keener as they will be awaiting to avenge their momentous defeats in India earlier this year. The England India series will consist of a Test match series with five Test matches to be played between them. With the first Test set to be played in Nottingham starting on Aug 4, this will be a thrilling battle to lock our eyes on.
ICC T20I World Cup
With the next ICC T20 World Cup set to take place this year in India, many doubts continue to remain about the tournament due to the difficult times undergone by the host nation. With India being the worst affected nation due to the covid 19 virus during these times, many question the viability of conducting the tournament in the nation, and promptly ICC has placed UAE as the backup host nation. With no final decisions taken as of yet, the tournament is officially dated to take place in October.
Three T20 World Cup sub-regional Europe Qualifiers to the 2022 men's main event in Australia have been canceled due to COVID-19 by the governing body ICC on Friday. The sub-regional European qualifiers were scheduled to be played from June 13 to July 10 in Finland and Belgium. But not getting approval to stage the event from the respective countries played into making this huge call.
With more cricket to follow, let us know which are the series that you're looking forward to most too and what are your thoughts of cricket taking place during these pandemic times.
