CPL agrees to change of dates on BCCI’s request

The Board of Control for Cricket Indian (BCCI) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) have come to an agreement that both the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) can take place without one overlapping into the other. The organisers of the CPL have acceded to a request of the BCCI and advanced the dates of the CPL so that the IPL schedule can be squeezed in the limited window available after September 14, when the Indian team will be free from the England tour.
The new arrangement was agreed upon by the BCCI and CPL authorities after Jay Shah called the CPL COO Pete Russell. The BCCI secretary has also spoken to his counterparts in the CWI, following which the Caribbean cricket authorities have agreed to tweak the CPL schedule. “CWI is doing our best to help facilitate a smooth transition from CPL to IPL, without a conflicting overlap,” Ricky Skerritt, the president of CWI, told Cricbuzz confirming the proposed changes in the schedule.
Cricbuzz has learned that the CPL now will take place from August 25 to September 15, enabling the IPL to restart the unfinished league around September 18-19. Originally, the CPL was to take place from August 28 to September 19. On April 27, the CPL had stated that the tournament of 33 games will get underway on August 28 in St Kitts & Nevis.
In fact, the tournament may even start on August 26, so that there is more than a 24-hour gap between West Indies’ second Test against Pakistan and the start of the CPL — the Test ends on August 24. The CPL is expected to come up with the revised schedule soon.
The CPL authorities are also preparing the logistics. The West Indies players will move from the national bubble to their respective franchise bubbles, just like those taking part in The Hundred in UK. The new 100-ball tournament in England is scheduled to end on August 21 and the CPL-bound players will be relieved of quarantine on arrival in the Caribbean. They too will have the bubble-to-bubble transfer facility.
St Kitts is virtually a Covid free island and it is willing to extend liberal quarantine rules for those coming with two vaccine shots. Those without vaccine and not coming from a bio-bubble, may have to undergo isolation for five days.
The BCCI, meanwhile, is trying to plug a few more loose ends before it announces the dates of the remaining 31 IPL games, which will be played in UAE. (Cricbuzz)
Photo: Skerritt