It has been more than a month since last cricketing action took place. The last international game was played between the two Oceania sides in Australia. It was a game which was played behind closed doors which meant no spectators in the ground were allowed. The COVID-19 Pandemic has been a lot dangerous and has affected every aspect in the world in a negative manner. People believe that there will be no sporting action at least till July. The Olympics have been postponed to 2021. The Wimbledon has been cancelled for 2020. The Euro Cup of football has been shifted to 2021 and many more events have been affected. While we have been hearing about other sports in a bit detailed manner, cricket has taken a somewhat back seat.
I have already talked about the postponement of the Olympics and its impact in one of my articles and right now I will only stick to the cricketing world. What are the consequences of so many competitions and series be it International or Domestic being cancelled or postponed? How are the different Cricketing Boards dealing with the situation? What role the International Cricket Council (ICC) has to play, are some of the questions that will be answered.
Talking about International Cricket, there are many bilateral series which had to be cancelled due to the outbreak. These bilateral series hold a lot of importance for the teams as they were playing their first ever World Test Championship matches. The Championship had just begun to get interesting and there looked to be a tough fight between teams to book a spot in the final to be played at Lords in 2021. With the games being cancelled and a lot of important points at stake, it becomes a challenge for ICC to take a decision on a few things regarding the championship. The point system is one of the things which ICC needs to look through, for these games. With few experts suggesting to divide the points between the teams i.e. 60 points each, there might be a question of fairness arising among some people. It is a fact that the home team enjoys a considerable advantage over their visitors and with the Championship getting tighter in the later stages; fans may question the apex body. The officials at ICC may even need to have an eye at their Future Tour Programs for the year 2020 and 2021 as it is being affected by the Pandemic.
2020 is a World Cup year. The World T20 is set to take place in Australia. The International Teams have played a lot of T20 games in past one year and were even looking forward to more in the upcoming days. The club competitions such as the IPL looks uncertain before the world cup and the international games have also been abandoned. The ICC even has a challenge of conducting a world cup and if it takes place, the players will have a very short period of time to get back in their groove and show their moves. It will be tough for them to get back to work at their best both mentally and physically.
Talking about the IPL, one of the most watched sporting events round the world, it has been postponed until further notice. The league was scheduled to start from 29th March but was postponed till 15th April when the Indian Government announced nationwide lockdown. The Lockdown has been further extended till 3rd May and the IPL has been suspended indefinitely. The thirteenth season of IPL was considered as an important one in many aspects. There were players like MS Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik who were waiting for the right time to perform and showcase their class in order to find a place in the squad travelling for the World Cup. IPL stands as a platform which is one of the best to warm-up for your upcoming World T20. The players would have loved to stay in touch with bat and ball and perform at their best to get themselves ready for the World Cup.
A suspended IPL means that there will be a loss in revenue for BCCI. The IPL stands as one of the main sources of revenue for the Indian Board. The franchises are worried about the sponsorships and there might be an impact on the broadcasters as they might have a different schedule in the later part of the year. However, there are rumors that The Sri Lankan Board has offered BCCI to host the thirteenth season of IPL but according to one of the BCCI officials; there is no point in discussing it right now.
Along with IPL, other club cricket tournaments have also been put to a halt. Pakistan Super League (PSL) was going through its last stages when it was called off. The start of a new season in England looks doubtful. The County season has been delayed as the English Cricket Board has suspended all cricketing action till 28th May. The foreign players’ contracts have been terminated. A hundred balls tournament was set to be a new experiment in the history of cricket. Sadly, The Hundred needs to wait for some time.
From my point of view, the main objectives of ICC for this year should be to successfully conduct the Twenty 20 World Cup and progress in their World Test Championship campaign. The Championship has been one of the pillars in the revival of Test Cricket. ICC can look to accommodate these test matches with the limited overs fixtures which are to be played between two nations in the later part of the year. This will not lead to any disparity and teams will have an equal say to fight for the golden spot. A challenge of conducting a successful World Cup, lies ahead of the Australian Board too and I would love to see them pass it with flying colors. I feel a lot confident that things will be back to normal by the end of the year and we will see some great cricketing action then.
We are going through a tough time right now and we should believe that we will overcome this and become better than ever. The sporting world stands together to become stronger. Players’ health and welfare comes first and they need to be in the right condition. It may take some time but the sporting events will be back with a bang once everything gets back to normal. For the time being, Stay Home, Stay Safe and Keep Reading Openions.
- Kshitij
Feeling bored without cricket..😔😔
ReplyDeleteYou are totally correct...
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