IPL 2019: BCCI likely to prepone the tournament

The preparations for the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has started. The franchises have traded a few players and the player auction is all set to take place in Jaipur on December 18. But the dilemma of playing continous cricket ahead of the World Cup in England next year has forced the BCCI to ponder over preponing the tournament.

According to the ESPN Cricinfo, the IPL is likely to commence on March 23 in order to give the Indian team adequate rest before the World Cup. The showpiece event is scheduled to begin on May 30 while the Men in Blue will be playing their first game on June 5 against South Africa. As per the previous dates, the IPL was concluding on May 19 which would’ve ideally given them only 10 days before the World Cup starts.

It is also being understood these changes are being done in order to accommodate the team management’s request of India’s fast bowlers needing enough rest.

Kohli and Shastri’s request

During their meeting with the Committee of Administrators (CoA) and the board’s senior management team last month, Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri are believed to have put forth the proposal of at least two weeks rest for their fast bowlers before the marquee event. They have also reportedly asked if the fast bowlers and key players could be rested from the IPL and could be adequately compensated for the same.

However, the CoA was of the opinion that the franchises need to give consent for this proposal which looks very unlikely. Few of the teams bank on the top national players in order to win the tournament and it will be interesting to see how the things unfold in the next few days. As of now, IPL, next year, is likely to be preponed which seems to be a wise move in order to avoid any conflicts.

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