Sports Desk – The postponed edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) to be held in the UAE will begin on September 19, with the final to be played on November 8. IPL chairman Brijesh Patel confirmed the schedule on Friday, although the Indian board is still awaiting a green signal from the government for taking IPL out of India.
While the IPL Governing Council will meet next week to chalk out the final details and approve the schedule, it is understood that the BCCI has informally intimated the franchises about the plan.
There are three venues in the UAE–Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai–where matches can be staged. Dubai itself has two grounds; apart from the main stadium, there is also the ICC academy ground where T20 internationals of Associate Nations have been staged. Also, the modalities of expenditure, how much would be borne by the franchises and by the board will have to be finalised. “All these issues will be decided by the governing council,” Patel said.
The meeting will also decide if IPL-13 can have limited crowds, now that the COVID-19 health situation is a lot better there. “We will seek the advice of the UAE government, if we can have any crowds,” he said.
It is expected that with every team needing at least a month to train, the franchises will be leaving base by August 20, which gives them exactly four-weeks to prepare.
