The England and Wales Cricket Board has dismissed and denied reports doing the rounds that its Indian counterpart, the BCCI, has asked for a tweak in India’s Test series schedule to get a new window for the recently suspended IPL 2021 in September.
Both Indian and English media reported on Thursday (May 20) that the BCCI has requested preponing India’s five-Test series with each Test beginning a week earlier than planned. This, with the eye towards getting an extended slot in the calendar to play the remaining 31 matches of IPL 2021 in the UK or UAE.
However, an ECB spokesman was quoted saying by Cricbuzz that the five-Test series will go ahead as scheduled since there hasn’t been any official request from the BCCI to change the same. The first Test is scheduled to kickstart on August 4 at Trent Bridge, followed by matches at Lord’s (August 12-16), Headingley (August 25-29), The Oval (September 2-6) and Manchester (September 10-14), respectively.
“We talk to the BCCI on a regular basis about a wide range of issues especially as we address the challenges of Covid-19, but have had no official request to change dates and are continuing to plan for the five-Test series as is scheduled,”
the ECB spokesman said.
There were fears that in order to fit in the lucrative fixtures of IPL, the Tests against England could be rescheduled – something that would’ve affected ECB’s own domestic and international itinerary heavily – or at worst, one of the Tests be cancelled entirely.
Speculations were rife on the matter after the media of both countries reported about the likelihood of India’s series schedule getting tweaked.
It was a possibility first brought to light by Times London, which reported, “The Board of Control for Cricket in India has enquired about the possibility of moving the final Test of the English summer in order to make room to complete the postponed Indian Premier League. Informal discussions have been had between the respective boards as cricket continues to grapple with a schedule ravaged by Covid.”
“The request puts the ECB in a tricky position, stuck between the rock of wanting to maintain good relations with the most powerful cricket nation as well as being as flexible and helpful as possible given the postponement of the game’s most financially lucrative competition, and the hard place of not impacting on their own carefully planned domestic schedule.
At this late stage it is hard to see the ECB acceding to any potential change and it is expected to hold its ground,”
The ECB, however, denied the suggestions of the series being preponed or the Test being moved out, with no official request from BCCI. But that isn’t to say the Indian board isn’t on the lookout for a new window in the calendar to play the remaining portion of IPL 2021.
The IPL 2021 was postponed on May 4 after a surge of COVID-19 positive cases inside different teams’ bubbles. From that moment on, the board has been scratching its head over a possible new window. It was initially felt that the tournament would be rescheduled for July after the World Test Championship final against New Zealand and ahead of the England Test series.
But BCCI president Sourav Ganguly denied that possibility, confirming that a second-string Indian squad will be travelling to Sri Lanka for a white-ball series that month. Thus, leaving only one alternative window for IPL 2021 – just after the England summer and prior to the T20 World Cup in October-November.
