IPL 2020 set to begin on September 19 in UAE
Image : Collected
|| Desk Report ||
The new season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 will get underway from September 19, as per a report in state-run news agency. The tournament will be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which has already been confirmed by the IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel.
While the Governing Council meeting is set to take place later this week, sources have suggested that the BCCI wants to start the tournament from September 19 in place of September 26.
Until now, September 26 was being touted as the start date for IPL 2020 but the BCCI has decided to get the tournament underway a week earlier to ensure Indian team has enough time to prepare for their tour of Australia later this year.
India are scheduled to play a four-match Test series in Australia starting from December 03 and will need to stay in 14-day quarantine before they can step on the field.
The BCCI will be utilising the window freed up by the T20 World Cup this year which has been postponed by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
The ICC had on Monday announced officially that the T20 World Cup in Australia would not be happening this year due to the coronavirus pandemic which paved way for BCCI to plan for IPL 2020 in that window.
While the dates are yet to be made official with the Governing Council meeting scheduled to take place later this week, sources have confirmed that BCCI has already informed all eight franchises about the new tentative schedule from September 19. The franchises have been asked to prepare accordingly and gear up for the tournament.
“IPL in all likelihood will start on September 19 (Saturday) and the final will be held on November 8 (Sunday). It’s a 51-day window which will suit the franchises as well as the broadcasters and other stakeholders,” a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying by PTI.
It will be a full-fledged tournament with not more than five double-headers as 60 games will be played across 51 days if the tournament starts from September 19. The teams are expected to leave their base by August 20 to have at least one month to prepare for the tournament.
“The Indian team will have a mandatory quarantine of 14 days as per Australian government rules. A delay would have sent the plans haywire. The best part is that 51 days is not at all a curtailed period and there will be much less doubleheaders. We could stick to the original five doubleheaders in a seven-week window,” the BCCI official explained.
