The Indian Premier League is likely to be held in the UAE during October and November, subject to government clearance and the International Cricket Council (ICC) announcing the postponement of the T20 World Cup scheduled to be held in Australia. The cash rich league was due to start on the 29th of March, with Mumbai Indians kicking it off against Chennai Super Kings at Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede stadium. However, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the glamorous cricket league was postponed indefinitely.
BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah apprised the members at the Apex Council meeting on Friday.
Once the T20 World Cup, supposed to be held over the same period, is officially postponed, the BCCI will approach the Indian government to check if they can host the IPL in India. If the situation in the country as regards the pandemic remains inconducive to hosting the tournament, they will shift the IPL to the UAE.
A franchise official, speaking to IANS said that they have already started preparing for the logistics and have zeroed in on the hotel they wish to stay at in Abu Dhabi and how exactly they will train and prepare for the 13th edition of the league.
“You need to be smart and plan early. We have been given the required inputs and are planning accordingly. We have actually decided on the hotel we wish to stay at in Abu Dhabi and how exactly we will go through the process of flying in and going through the necessary quarantine period once in UAE. We will obviously need to brush up with the then health guidelines of the country,” the official said.
The board also informed its Apex Council that no domestic cricket would be held until December. Thirty-eight teams take part in various domestic and age-group tournaments played across the country. Since players’ mobility is a big factor, the board doesn’t want to taking any hasty decision on its domestic calendar.
Tournaments like Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and Challengers series will be scrapped and age-group tournaments too will take a major hit this season.
Not just domestic cricket, but no international games are likely to be played at home this year.
Camp in Ahmedabad
The world’s biggest cricket stadium at Motera in Ahmedabad couldn’t host its first game due to Covid-19, but chances are India will hold a cricket camp there before the series in Australia.
The stadium has quality accommodation inside its premises where players can stay. They can also be quarantined, if needed, and contracted players can experience open spaces for a return to groove after an extended period away from cricket.
