Cricket Predictions: IPL scenario No 1 - More double headers to compensate for lost time

The league has already lost 18 days. Add to that, 14 days of quarantine that all foreign players will have to serve, and every IPL match day will have to be a double header.

The IPL was scheduled to start on March 29 which has been now pushed back to at least April 15. This means that 18 days have already been shaved off the tournament. With the international schedule packed after the league, it might not be possible for them to push it too much after the earlier closing date of May 24 and looking at the bet365 Cricket betting guide you probably say that the finish time could be pushed back, if the International cricket is postponed.

If the Governing Council still wants to hold the tournament in its entirety, they will have no option but to resort to double headers and have two matches on most days - the first one at 4:00 p.m. IST and the second one at 8:00 p.m. IST, as has been the case in the previous seasons.

The double headers were done away with to honour the demand of the broadcasters because of the relatively lower sale of tickets in the afternoon games. There were only six double headers scheduled in the season. But, under the new circumstances, that arrangement would have to be changed if the organisers want to play all 60 games.

The league has already lost 18 days. Add to that 14 days of quarantine that all foreign players would have to serve. Factor in travel restrictions, visa suspensions and sealed national boundaries, and the conclusion is that if all 60 IPL games are to be played, double headers would have to be conducted daily over one month.

IPL 2020 Squads (as they stand today)

Eight franchisees spent a combined total of Rs. 140.30 crore on 62 players who were sold during the 13th Player Auction of the Indian Premier League in December 2019.

Chennai Super Kings: Sam Curran, Piyush Chawla, Josh Hazlewood, R Sai Kishore, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Murali Vijay, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Rituraj Gaikwad, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, N Jagadeesan, Lungi Ngidi, Monu Singh

Delhi Capitals: Jason Roy, Chris Woakes, Alex Carey, Shimron Hetmyer, Mohit Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Marcus Stoinis, Lalit Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Keemo Paul, Sandeep Lamichhane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane.

Kings XI Punjab: Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, James Neesham, Chris Jordan, Tajinder Dhillon, Prabhsimran Singh, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Mohammed Shami, Nicholas Pooran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Hardus Viljoen, Darshan Nalkande, Sarfaraz Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Murugan Ashwin, K Gowtham, J Suchith

Kolkata Knight Riders: Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, M Siddharth, Chris Green, Tom Banton, Pravin Tambe, Nikhil Naik, Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Harry Gurney, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Siddhesh Lad

Mumbai Indians: Chris Lynn, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Saurabh Tiwary, Mohsin Khan, Digvijay Deshmukh, Balwant Rai Singh, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Anmolpreet Singh, Jayant Yadav, Aditya Tare, Anukul Roy, Quinton de Kock, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell McClenaghan, Sherfane Rutherford, Trent Boult, Dhawal Kulkarni

Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane, Krishnappa Gowtham, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Gopal, Aryaman Birla, S. Midhun, Prashant Chopra, Stuart Binny, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Ish Sodhi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mahipal Lomror, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas, Shashank Singh, Liam Livinstone, Shubham Rajane, Manan Vohra, Ashton Turner, Riyan Parag

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kulwant Khejroliya, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Moeen Ali, Mohammed Siraj, Colin de Grandhomme, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Shivam Dube, Heinrich Klassen, Gurkeerat Singh, Himmat Singh, Prayas Ray Barman, Mandeep Singh

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Virat Singh, Priyam Garg, Mitchell Marsh, Sandeep Bavanaka, Fabian Allen, Abdul Samad, Sanjay Yadav, Kane Williamson, David Warner, Manish Pandey, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha, Shreevats Goswami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Shahbaz Nadeem, Billy Stanlake, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan

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