Is the IPL more important than the World T20?

Members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) had a six-hour-long meeting on Wednesday regarding a decision on the future of the ICC World T20.

The decision they came to after six hours was to hold off on a decision till next month - in other words, no decision at all. 

The T20 World Cup is scheduled to take place in October this year in Australia and here is what the ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney said, "The situation surrounding the global pandemic is evolving rapidly and we want to give ourselves the best possible opportunity to make the right decision. The health and well-being of everyone involved is our priority and other considerations fall out from that."

On the other hand, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been postponed indefinitely due to the Covid-19 outbreak in India but there are talks of it taking place this year.

The Indian cricket board (BCCI) stands to lose $525 million in revenue if they cannot stage the 2020 edition of the franchise-based league, unquestionably the biggest franchise T20 tournament in the world.

"We are hopeful that we can host the IPL this year. In a best-case scenario, we want the full edition, not a truncated one. It is, of course, subject to what the ICC decides on the T20 World Cup. But we are looking at September end-early October start for IPL. ICC should make a decision soon. Because, if the World Cup is happening teams have to prepare for it. Players are all still in lockdown. After all, it is a World Cup that we are talking about," IPL chairman Brijesh Patel said on Thursday night. 

BCB chief selector Akram Khan, however, believes that the T20 World Cup will be postponed: "If you look at the situation here in Bangladesh and in the sub-continent, the coronavirus situation is not getting any better, so the player will not be able to participate if they can't train properly and get enough cricket in them."

So as things stand, the IPL might take place before the T20 World Cup if the ICC decides to postpone the biggest international T20 event to a later date. 

And thus the question arises, is it because IPL is more important than the World T20? 

Money talks

We have to take into account the amount of revenue BCCI generates for ICC.

According to reports, the ICC makes close to 80 percent of its income from the BCCI and that means what BCCI wants has to be more or less adhered to by ICC. 

Simply put, if BCCI is losing money by not hosting IPL, ICC is also potentially losing money.

And money here for sure equates to power as BCCI and the decision they make will have an impact on how ICC decides on the World T20. 

It will not be a surprise to see cricket's governing body caving in to the pressure from Indian cricket hierarchy and postponing the World T20. 

One of the reasons could be because IPL would make more money than the World T20 even if it were to be played without fans. 

More matches and more TV viewership would equate to more money from sponsors, even if there would be no revenue from the ticket sales.

One has to assume that the viewership per match from India alone for an IPL match could rival that of a World T20 match where two lesser teams are playing.

Likewise, the number of games played in IPL is much higher than the number of games played in the World T20.

So the amount of money generated would be greater from IPL, even if it were to be held without crowds. 

That would mean that there is pressure on ICC to give space for IPL to take place and make it their priority, if and when cricket does resume. 

"Naturally, a World Cup requires fans. It makes no sense playing a World Cup without a crowd," Patel said regarding the T20 World Cup being played in empty stadiums.

He also added that the IPL could take place at a neutral venue when possible, and without crowds, "If we are playing without crowds, the location does not matter. We would perhaps require four stadiums. But you can't plan that at the moment. Both UAE and Sri Lankan boards have offered to host."

And that is what is at the crux of this matter, IPL has become so big and so important in the cricketing world, that in many ways, it exceeds the importance of the World T20. 

India have been badly affected by Covid-19 and are under lockdown whereas Australia have recovered to a great extent and by October, should be good to have matches safely.

But it would not be surprising at all, if IPL happens in Australia, instead of the World T20 at that time.