BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has said that the domestic cricket season will start as and when the situation becomes safe to play amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He said this in a letter to presidents and secretaries of the Board affiliated member associations on Thursday, not specifying the date from when the season will start.

The domestic season starts normally in August, however, due to the pandemic, it has not been scheduled yet, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has not still locked a date, Ganguly said. He said that the Board is hopeful that the COVID-19 situation will improve in the next few months and domestic cricket will be able to start in a safe environment.

The domestic season is now expected to begin with the Syed Musthaq Ali T20 tournament, tentatively from the third week of November.

“…the BCCI is making all efforts to ensure that domestic cricket resumes as and when the conditions permit. The health and safety of players and all others involved in domestic cricket is of utmost importance to BCCI and we are constantly monitoring all aspects,” Ganguly wrote in the letter.

“All members will be duly informed about the future course of action and suggestions will be taken before we resume domestic cricket.” 

The BCCI chief informed the members about India’s commitments in the Future Tours Programme (FTP), including the scheduled tour of Australia later this year and playing host to England early 2021. “The senior Indian men’s team will travel to Australia for its series starting in December this year, and will come back to the country for a series against England starting February next year,” he said. 

“This will be followed by IPL 2021 in April,” Ganguly said.

IPL 2020: Full squad list of all eight teams

He said that India is set to host the T20 World Cup next year and the ODI World Cup in 2023.

“The BCCI continues to be the host for the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 and the 50-over ICC Cricket World Cup in 2023.” The former India captain also said that the tours of the Indian women’s team are “under discussion” but did not elaborate further.