The Indian Premier League (IPL) will start on 19 September in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and its final will be played on 8 November. IPL chairman Brijesh Patel in an interview gave this information to PTI on Friday. The IPL Governing Council will meet next week, in which the program will be approved with the finalization.
Brijesh Patel said, “The Governing Council will meet soon, but we have decided the schedule. It will start from 19 September and will run till 8 November. We hope to get the government’s approval. It will be a full 51-day IPL.”
The IPL has become possible after the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision to postpone the T20 World Cup to be held in October-November. Patel said that the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is being prepared to avoid the threat of COVID-19 epidemic and the BCCI will officially write to the Emirates Cricket Board.
UAE Government Will Decide Whether To Allow Crowd Or Not In IPL
Patel said, “We are making SOP and it will be ready in a few days. Whether or not to allow viewers will depend on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government. We have left the decision on this to their government. Still social distance has to be followed. We will also officially write to the UAE board.”
There are three grounds available in UAE which are Dubai International Stadium, Sheikh Zayed Stadium (Abu Dhabi) and Sharjah Ground. It is learned that the BCCI will hire the ICC Academy ground for training for the teams.
The ICC Academy has two full-size cricket grounds, as well as 38 turf pitches, six indoor pitches, 5700 square feet of outdoor conditioning area with physiotherapy and medical centers.
COVID PROTOCOL IN UAE
According to the current health protocol in Dubai, if people are found to be COVID-19 negative, then they do not have to live in quarantine, but if it is not so, they will have to go through the investigation.
The IPL was to be held from late March, but it was postponed indefinitely due to Corona virus epidemic and travel restrictions. However, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly said that this year the IPL will be held.
