Reports emerge of bombshell plan to finish suspended IPL season

A number of English cricket grounds have reportedly put forward their name to host the remainder of the suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) games in a bid to keep the competition running.

Indian cricket officials made the bombshell announcement on Tuesday night amid a widening coronavirus outbreak in the country.

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India's coronavirus caseload topped 20 million this week as the crisis finally forced the suspension of the world's richest cricket competition.

But the PA news agency understands initial contact has been made with the England and Wales Cricket Board suggesting the likes of Lord's, the Oval, Old Trafford and Edgbaston could be possible venues for the 31 remaining fixtures.

The ECB would need to adopt the project and the governing body suggested on Thursday that their counterparts were far from ready to engage.

A spokesperson told PA: "We speak to the BCCI regularly about tours and other matters and we'll continue doing so, but we have received no indication that they are looking for alternative hosts for the IPL at the moment."

IPL suspension raises questions

Many have questioned why it took so long to suspend the IPL amid the death and destruction in India.

The call was made after a fourth franchise from the lucrative tournament reported a positive Covid-19 test.

But many are now left wondering why the competition continued for as long as it did.

"It’s better to leave people asking why you have stopped something rather than what took you so long," wrote Anand Vasu of The Guardian on Wednesday.

"The Indian Premier League, which was suspended for the season on Tuesday, comprehensively failed on this count.

"These are the worst of times in India, with death and destruction all around. To pull off a tournament of this scale without serious collateral damage was impossible.

"This is something that should have been acknowledged even by the most powerful and ambitious people running cricket. And yet it was not."

Vasu suggested the fact that the 2021 IPL was expected to generate $572 million in profits might have played a part.

Aussie cricket writer Ben Dorries expressed similar sentiments on Twitter.

"The truly crazy thing about events in India with the IPL is that what is happening now was entirely foreseeable many, many weeks ago by competition organisers, by players involved, by coaches, by Cricket Australia," he tweeted.

"By literally everyone. Utter madness."

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with AAP

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