The tournament is slated to kick off in the first week of February, which will disrupt the schedule of leagues held around that time of the year. The ILT20, for instance, kicked off on January 19 and is set to conclude on February 17. South Africa's SA20 and the Bangladesh Premier League will also face similar challenges as their dates fall between the first two months of the year.
This year, SA20 started on January 10 and will conclude exactly one month later, on February 10. The Bangladesh Premier League will not be an exception either. Normally held in January-February, this year the final of the seven-team league has spilled into March (the final is on March 1).
SA20 did not offer a comment in response to a question, but an ILT20 official confirmed the challenges that the league will face next year due to the overlap of dates with the Champions Trophy. "We will have to work on a limited window," the official said. With the current edition still underway, the IL officials have not yet considered the next season's dates, but the official confided that they may have to finish the league in January itself.
Even the Pakistan Super League (PSL) will not be immune to this disruption. If the Champions Trophy - normally a 20-day event -- takes up the entire month of February, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will have very little time in March before clashing with the dates of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is much bigger in size, popularity and profile. PSL is slated to start on February 17 this year and will run till March 18. There was not much response from the PCB on this issue. With a new committee just formed, its focus currently is on this year's edition, which will be the PSL's ninth season.