The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly is set to arrive in Mumbai on Friday night for the all-important virtual Special General Meeting (SGM) on Saturday. The major areas of focus will be planning for the T20 World Cup, resumption of the 14th edition of IPL and the payment process for domestic cricketers. Speaking to ANI, sources in the know of developments confirmed that the former India skipper will be reaching Mumbai on Friday night. “While it is a virtual meeting, we will still have to have a base and that is Mumbai. Sourav is coming tonight,” the source said.
While the upcoming T20 World Cup was always going to be the major point of discussion, the BCCI’s plan to restart the suspended IPL will also be discussed with the state associations as it is set to face quite some challenges with an eye on the COVID-19 situation.
“With the ICC meeting on June 1, tomorrow’s SGM will obviously hold importance as we need to discuss the way forward and the measures that need to be taken with an eye on the T20 World Cup set to be held in India in October-November as per the plan drawn. The COVID-19 scenario and the contingency plans are set to be discussed with the state associations in details,” the source said.
“Similarly, now that we are also looking at the September 15 to October 15 window for the resumption of IPL, we would also need to discuss the logistics in details as also any other challenge that needs to be given attention. The completion of the IPL will also work as a good preparation ground for the players with the T20 World Cup set to be played.”
In its last Apex Council meeting, the BCCI had picked nine venues for the T20 World Cup — Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Dharamsala, Ahmedabad and Lucknow.
The state associations had been told to keep preparations on for the event with an eye on the coronavirus pandemic. “The nine venues have been informed and it was again discussed that preparations should continue for the showpiece event with an eye on the Covid-19 situation and a call will only be taken closer to the event. It is too early to imagine what can or will happen in October-November with regards to the coronavirus situation. But preparations shall be on,” a BCCI source from the meeting had said.
All that will need a re-look now with an eye on the current COVID-19 situation. Another important area will be the decision on the payment of domestic players as there is still some confusion on how it needs to be worked out.
“There is no doubt that the domestic players need to be paid their dues as also a compensation plan needs to be worked upon as we have faced issues with hosting tournaments due to COVID-19. Sitting together and working things out always helps and with state associations a part of the meeting tomorrow, we should get a clear picture on the issue,” the source explained.
