India worried T20 World Cup delays could impact IPL start date

NEW DELHI :India's cricket leaders are becoming impatient with the world body's delays in deciding whether the Twenty20 World Cup will go ahead this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Cup holdup is stopping the Board of Control for Cricket in India from setting a date for its biggest earner, the Indian Premier League.

The International Cricket Council has said it will make a decision in July on the future of the 20 over event which was due to start in Australia in October. But no date for a meeting has been announced.

"Why they (the ICC) are delaying we have no idea," BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal told AFP, adding the BCCI was "already planning (the IPL) and we are looking for a window."

"We will see how the situation pans out," he said. "We will explore options whether we can have it here or overseas."

The United Arab Emirates and Sri Lankan cricket boards have already shown interest in hosting the T20 tournament that attracts global superstars such as England's Joe Root, West Indies batsman Chris Gayle and South Africa's Faf du Plessis.

The IPL has twice been held outside India in years that it clashed with national elections. South Africa hosted the 2009 event and part of it was held in United Arab Emirates in 2014.

Dhumal added that the BCCI will look to open domestic tournaments, such as the Ranji trophy, in September to kickstart the game post-pandemic.

Dhumal earlier told AFP the board would suffer losses of more than 500 million dollars if the IPL is scrapped.