It’s been almost four months since India lost the World Cup final to Australia on home soil, but the bad memories of the defeat continue to haunt the players and the fans. India marched to the final as the only unbeaten side in the tournament, only to go down at the expense of Australia in the final hurdle. The defeat extended India’s ICC trophy drought, with their last success at world stage dating back to 2013 when they won the Champions Trophy under MS Dhoni‘s leadership. The year 2023 saw India lose two ICC finals, both to Australia. Last year in June, India also lost to the Pat Cummins-led side in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
The WTC final was played just days after the IPL 2023 final. This year too the cash-rich league will be followed by the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the USA.
India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin admitted that the team is indeed witnessing an ICC trophy drought.
“We have been on a drought to win ICC trophies for years now and have consistently been knocked out in the semis or finals. And this is yet another year where the ICC T20 World Cup follows the IPL final by just five days, like in the recent past,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
The new season of IPL kicks off on Friday, March 22 with defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the tournament opener.
However, the BCCI has only announced the schedule for the first 21 matches, owing to General Elections.
The General elections will be held in India from 19 April 2024 to 1 June 2024, as announced by the Elections Commission on Saturday. it will be held in seven different phases and the results will be announced on 4 June 2024.
According to reports, the BCCI is exploring the possibility of organising the second half of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UAE.
Since the elections dates have now been announced, the BCCI could soon announce the dates of the remaining fixtures, and also take on call on the possible venue change.
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