The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has sent the acceptance letter to Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) to host the 13th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) in UAE, as confirmed by IPL chairman Brijesh Patel.
This will be the second instance of UAE hosting the cash-rich league. They have already hosted the initial parts of the tournament in 2014 as India was going through its five-yearly general election.
“Yes we have sent the acceptance letter to the ECB and both the boards will be working together from now on to stage the tournament,” Patel confirmed to The Khaleej Times.
Patel further said that all eight IPL franchises would be organising their pre-tournament training camps in UAE in a bio-secure environment.
“The teams need at least three to four weeks to prepare for the tournament,” added Patel.
The 2020 edition of the league, originally scheduled to commence from March 29, was postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Even when the situation looked extremely unfavourable, BCCI always maintained that IPL 2020 would be taking place at any cost.
With less than 60,000 cumulative COVID-19 cases, UAE is among the rare nations who have successfully controlled the spread of the deadly virus. Added to that, its past experience of hosting the tournament and remarkable cricketing infrastructure, UAE unsurprisingly emerged as the first choice for BCCI.
The eagerly-awaited T20 extravaganza will run from September 19 to November 8, and the full schedule will be released only after approval from the Indian government.
“The GC will meet shortly but we have finalised the schedule. It will run from September 19 to November 8. We expect government approval to come through. It is a full 51-day IPL,” Patel earlier confirmed to PTI.
