After several reports speculated that the BCCI might request the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to make changes to the upcoming Test series between India and England in order to create a window for the remainder of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season, England director Ashley Giles said on Thursday that the English board will not amend its home schedule under any circumstances.
“I’m not aware of anything official, any requests to shift anything. As far as we’re concerned and what we’re prepared for, the matches will be where they are,” Giles is quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
“I’m not surprised there’s all sorts of speculation. Everyone wants to get their cricket in. But we’ve not received anything official and we’re cracking on,” he added.
“We have a full schedule. If we go from the end of the fifth Test in September, we are set to leave for Bangladesh on September 19 or 20. We have a full schedule right through including Pakistan and wherever the T20 World Cup is,” Giles said. We are going to have to give some of these guys a break at some point. But the intention of giving guys a break for, say, Bangladesh, wouldn’t be for them to go and play cricket elsewhere. We have to manage our schedule now, so we get our guys arriving in the best shape possible for the T20 World Cup and the Ashes,” he further added.
Significantly, the BCCI is likley to stage the IPL 2021 remainder in the third week of September as is looking to create a window in a way such that most of the overseas players could participate in it.