Highlights:
- IPL 2020 will take place in 2020
- Chairman, Brijesh Patel announced the start and end date of IPL 2020
- Opening match of the tournament will take place on the 19th of September
Are you like us who were unhappy when BCCI announced the postponement of IPL 2020 for an indefinite period of time? Well, we have some great news for you which will bring a wide smile on your face. Indian Premier League 2020 will start on the 19th of September this year in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which has been announced by the Chairman of IPL Brijesh Patel.
Patel also said that the IPL Finale 2020 will take place on the 8th of November.
Though the Governing Council of IPL will have a meeting next week to finalise the details and approve the schedule, it is assumed that the BCCI has, informally, intimated the franchises about the plan.
Patel said, “The GC will meet shortly but we have finalised the schedule. It will run from September 19 to November 8. We expect the government approval to come through. It is a full 51-day IPL,”.
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The reason why IPL is even standing a chance of happening at all this year is because of ICC and we should be thankful of the Council for postponing the October- November T20 World Cup in Australia owing to the novel Coronavirus as the host country expressed the questions over its ability to host the event.
Patel said that the SOP or Standard Operating Procedure of holding IPL 2020 while combating COVID-19 is being prepared by the BCCI and the latter will write the SOP formally to the Emirates Cricket Board.
Patel said, “We are making the SOP and it will be ready in a few days. To allow crowd or not depends on the UAE government. Anyway, social distancing has to be maintained. We have left it for their government to decide on that. Will also be writing to the UAE board formally,”.
In UAE, IPL 2020 will have 3 cricket ground options which are
- Dubai International Stadium
- Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
- Sharjah Ground.
It was reported that BCCI will rent the grounds which belong to ICC Academy for the training purposes of the teams.
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The ICC Academy consists of 2 full-sized cricket grounds which have 38 turf pitches along with 6 indoor pitches, a 5,700 sq feet outdoor conditioning area and a physiotherapy medicine centre.
Under the existing protocols in Dubai, if a person has been tested negative for the novel Coronavirus there will be no need to be quarantined, however, if somebody has not been tested, he/ she will have to take a COVID-19 test.
Also, BCCI decided to advance IPL 2020 by a week (from 26th September to 19th September) in order to make sure that the Indian team’s tour of Australia is not affected.
An official from BCCI said, “The Indian team will have a mandatory quarantine of 14 days as per the Australian government rules. A delay would have sent the plans haywire,”
He added, “The best part is that 51 days is not at all a curtailed period and broadcasters will be happy with full seven-week window,”.
Though the original schedule had five double-headers, Patel said, this new schedule will feature around 12 double-headers which means two matches will be played on both Saturdays and Sundays.
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The Indian team is set to play a 4-match test series against Australia which will begin on the 3rd of December in Brisbane soon after IPL 2020 ends. It is being reported that every team in IPL will leave for UAE at least 1 month before the start of the tournament given the players needs at least 1 month’s of training to get in shape and sync.
