While the cricket world waits for a decision on the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia and then the normally-glitzy Indian Premier League (IPL), UAE is keeping itself in the fray to welcome the BCCI along with its entourage for the cash-rich tournament.
According to several reports, the BCCI has decided in favour of the UAE to host the IPL 2020 from September 26 to November 6. UAE has earlier hosted the seventh season of the IPL in 2014 due to General Elections in India.
Update: BCCI closing in on UAE as the venue for IPL-13.#IPL2020 #IPL #BCCI
— Sports Tak (@sports_tak) July 17, 2020
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the IPL matches will be played behind closed doors in UAE too. “That’s not a problem. IPL is more made for TV and the gate receipts will not be as much even if the crowds come in,” a team owner told the Outlook.
The conditions in the UAE are pretty similar to that of India and the distance between the stadiums in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi is not too far, which is also an important factor for the BCCI.
“The stadium has nine wickets on the top in case a large number of matches have to be accommodated within a smaller time-frame. We will not be scheduling any matches there to keep the wickets fresh,” Salman Hanif, Head of Cricket & Events of Dubai Sports City, told Gulf News.
Meanwhile, the detailed schedule for the 13th season of the IPL is likely to be released in the first week of August. The Indian cricketers who will feature in the IPL will move to UAE for a five-week training camp from the third week of August to the first week of September.
Once the training camp is over, the IPL franchises will be free to organise training camps of their own ahead of the tournament opener.
