Opinion: How will the World Cup affect the IPL next year?

International Cricket Council (ICC) will conduct its 50-over World Cup in England next year. The last 4 years have seen plenty of changes in the game of cricket. It saw the introduction of orange balls, reduction in the thickness of bats and a lot of changes in the DRS system too. Many new players are now part of this beautiful game. The last few years have seen its share of controversies too. With the World Cup scheduled next year, all these changes will contribute to a more closely competed tournament next year.

Indian Premier League (IPL), BCCI's brainchild has revolutionized the way that the game has been played. The T-20's have attracted fans and cricketers all over the globe. This tournament has gained immense popularity and ICC is contemplating of allocating a separate window for this league. IPL is on the right track to promote Cricket more as a global sport.

IPL might lose its shine next year

While the IPL usually happens in April-May every year, the World Cup is scheduled to start at the end of May next year. Though there would be no clash, IPL would be highly affected due to the close proximity of both the tournaments. Let us analyze the reasons behind it.

Most of the high-profile players would not risk an injury before the World Cup. In the past IPL seasons, many players were injured during the course of the tournament. Hence, it would not be a surprise if players like Jos Buttler, Jasprit Bumrah and others decide to not participate in the IPL.

The World Cup is a tournament which all the cricket boards are very focused about. It brings a lot of revenue and popularity if their teams perform well. Hence, many of them would not allow their important players to take part in IPL next year. Mustafizur Rahman has already been told by the Bangladesh Cricket Board to skip IPL next year. We can expect a few more to follow in the next few months.

World Cup happens every four years while IPL is an event which would take place every year. Hence, it is of no surprise that most of the media attention would shift to the World Cup. This would automatically make a few sponsors back out of the IPL. It could affect the glamour and entertainment the IPL could offer.

If IPL follows its usual calendar, then there would be very few days between the World Cup and the IPL. So, the BCCI might decide to hold the IPL a little earlier. This would mean that the IPL would lose its advantage of being held in a holiday season. Due to this factor, the IPL might lose out on its young viewers next year.

And finally, with the elections scheduled in India next year, the IPL committee might also face difficulty in hosting the matches and lack of security personnel. This will also cause concern the BCCI. Shifting the tournament to another country might be difficult as that board will be hesitant to host the IPL with the World Cup scheduled in a few more days.

The resolution to this problem would be allowing a separate window to the IPL in the future. Though it might not be possible next year, having a separate window would solve a lot of problems.

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