IPL 2021: BCCI to Suffer Huge Financial Losses

BCCI president Saurav Ganguly: If We Fail To Complete The IPL, The loss Will Be Close To INR 2500 

Due to an increase in the number of virus cases within the bio-bubble, the Indian Premier League 2021 edition was postponed indefinitely after 29 matches. Two IPL matches were initially rescheduled (Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians).

Before the BCCI decided to call off this season's IPL, two players from the KKR camp, and Wriddhiman Saha from the SRH unit had returned positive results. This led to international pressure to halt the league, and it was eventually postponed indefinitely. 

Predicted loss of more than INR 2000 crore

The BCCI's key goal in creating a back-up is to find a time within the calendar year to stage the rest of the IPL.

With a jam-packed FTP schedule, the board could be in for a difficult challenge, and if the issue cannot be resolved, BCCI president Saurav Ganguly has predicted a loss of more than INR 2000 crore.

In an interview with the Telegraph, Ganguly said, "If we don't finish the IPL, we'll lose close to INR 2500 crore (USD 340 million approximately). That is based on preliminary estimates. There has got to be a lot of shuffling. Only a day has passed since we suspended the IPL. We have to speak to other boards and see if a window can be made available before the T20 World Cup. Lot of things are involved and we will slowly start working on them.”

Several counties in England stepped up on Thursday and offered to host the rest of the IPL. Even if the current schedule is a challenge, MCC, Surrey, Warwickshire, and Lancashire are part of the group.

However, it is understandable given that India will travel to England for a four-month tour to compete in the World Test Championship against New Zealand, followed by five Tests against the host country until September.

Not a huge blow

The IPL suspension isn’t a huge blow according to Ganguly, but he acknowledges that things must improve before a decision can be made.

When it comes to whether the current situation puts the ICC T20 World Cup – which is set to take place in India later this year – in jeopardy, Ganguly believes that predicting anything at this point will be incorrect.

"I wouldn't say it (IPL suspension) is a blow... Don't forget last year we had no Wimbledon or Olympics. These are extraordinary times and we have to take it in our stride and move on. We can't do much in these situations. Perhaps we have to only wait for things to improve. Let's see what happens to the World T20. There's still some time left and we don't know how things will pan out a month later... Can't comment right now. But let’s not assume things, “ he said.