The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is open to hosting the remainder of the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in September this year, as the most lucrative franchise-based T20 tournament was forced to be suspended due to the escalating nature of the conflict between India and Pakistan. 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended the IPL for one week on Friday. According to a report by The Guardian, ECB's chief executive Richard Gould has already offered his support to his equivalents at the BCCI. Should India be unable to restart the IPL after this week-long hiatus, one suggestion is for England to host the remaining fixtures later in the year.

"A senior ECB source has confirmed this could be possible in September, albeit adding that no 'active discussions' are currently taking place," the report read. 

ECB had offered to host the IPL also back in 2021 when the IPL was paused due to Covid-19 pandemic. 

Officials paused this edition of IPL after a match on Thursday was abandoned in Dharamsala, less than 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the northern city of Jammu, where explosions were reported hours earlier.

The IPL still has 12 group matches left, which are due to be followed by the playoffs culminating in the May 25 final in Kolkata.

New dates and venues for the remaining matches will be declared "in due course", read a BCCI statement on Friday.

The conflict took its toll on the other side of the border as well, with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) initially deciding to move the last eight Pakistan Super League (PSL) games to the United Arab Emirates.

However, later on Friday, the PCB said it had postponed the matches on the advice of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, adding that cricket "must take a respectful pause" amid the conflict.