In a shot in the arm for BCCI and IPL, the dates for the 2021 edition of the CPL have been revised; It will now be played in St Kitts and Nevis between 26 August and 15 September. The CPL was originally scheduled to begin on August 28 and end on September 19, but this changed after the BCCI started talks with Cricket West Indies (CWI). The CPL immediately thereafter identified a September-October window to complete the remainder of the postponed 2021 IPL.
The revised dates would mean a change in match schedules for the CPL, and the challenge for both the CWI and the CPL is that there are not many free days in the packed home season with South Africa, Australia and Pakistan touring the Caribbean.
Immediately following the ongoing series against South Africa that ends on 9 July, West Indies play a white-ball series of five T20Is and three ODIs against Australia, which ends on 24 July. Three days later, the Pakistan series begins with one. The five-match T20I series, followed by two Tests, is scheduled to conclude on August 24.
The BCCI wanted the CPL to advance the start of the tournament for two major reasons: first, there are many players as well as coaching staff who are associated with both the IPL and CPL franchises, and two IPL franchise owners. - Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings - The CPL also has its own teams - Trinbago Knight Riders and St Lucia Zoox respectively. Secondly, the BCCI wanted the IPL squad to move quickly from the Caribbean to the United Arab Emirates, where the rest of the IPL would be played.
"Both the IPL and the CPL are important to the CWI, our cricketers and fans," CWI President Ricky Skerritt told ESPNcricinfo. "CWI's role was to facilitate arrangements for a non-overlapping and smooth transition from one tournament to another. Cricket administrators must cooperate if cricket is to survive the risks and costs of COVID-19."
The 2021 CPL consists of 33 matches, all of which will be held at Warner Park. In April, the CPL's chief executive, Pete Russell, stated that the edition would be open to the crowd, but attendance would be capped at 50% of the ground capacity.
Skerritt informed that CPL will soon finalize guidelines for franchises to be a part of the bio-secure bubble. "Any bubble-related decisions are made by local St. Kitts health officials and CPL medical advisors (similar to CWI) in the context of the local COVID-19 situation," he said. "Just four weeks ago, St. Kitts recorded community spread for the first time. For more than a year, all cases were imported, identified, quarantined and cured. First local COVID-19 (related) death." It happened just two days ago."