Reports: IPL 2020 All-Star match called-off

IPL 2020 All-Star match called-off: The prospect of players form different teams playing together was an intriguing one.

Novel and intriguing rules for IPL 2020 were the highlight of the Indian Premier League Governing Council meeting held in Delhi last month.

A first-ever one-off All-Star match was also among the new rules which would have been played before the start of the 13th season of the cash rich league.

“It will be an IPL All Stars Game three days before the start of IPL. The venue is not Ahmedabad as it still not match ready,” BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was quoted as saying to the reporters after the Governing Council meeting.

It was subsequently reported that the All-Star match would comprise of two teams made from franchises of South and West India and North and East India.

IPL 2020 All-Star match called-off

If recent reports are to be believed, the showpiece match has now been called-off due to several reasons. Ganguly, who had announced the event, is almost likely to witness IPL 2020 without an All-Star match. It is said that him announcing the same without consulting with the franchises worked against him.

The biggest reason behind the same is franchises not agreeing to let their players play an extra match ahead of the tournament. Given the modern-day cricketers and their hectic schedules, franchises didn’t want their players to succumb to any kind of injury three days before the league stage.

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While the aforementioned sounds to be an apt reason, another reason doing the rounds revolves around the commercial aspect. Franchises also expressed concerns regarding players missing promotional campaigns and other media-related engagements ahead of the league stage if they took part in the All-Star match.

“It is at least not happening before the start of the IPL,” an official of a south franchise was quoted as saying by Mumbai Mirror.