Mumbai, May 21 (IANS): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has requested the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to advance the start of the five-match Test series between England and India by a week so that a window could be created in September to finish the postponed Indian Premier League (IPL) season.

The Test series against the hosts will commence in Trent Bridge on August 4 and conclude at Old Trafford on September 14. The ECB is yet to respond to BCCI's request, according to espncricinfo.com.

The IPL was postponed indefinitely on May 4 following bio-bubble breaches in Delhi and Ahmedabad, which resulted in a few players and staff testing positive for Covid-19.

The BCCI hopes that a three-week window would be sufficient to hold the remaining IPL 31 games if the final Test concludes on September 7.

It is planning to include several double-headers to finish the IPL before the teams start arriving in India for the ICC T20 World Cup, which begins on October 18.