|| Desk Report ||

IPL 2020 is going to take place in UAE from September 19 across three venues - Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. The 53-day tournament will be comprised of 60 matches and the head coach of Indian team thinks this will help the players for the upcoming series against Australia.

Team India will fly directly after the IPL ends on November 10 for the much-awaited Australia tour which will begin with a T20 series followed by four Tests and ODIs as well.

While talking to Gulf News, he said, “Here we are talking about not playing cricket for five months, the sport had come to a halt for six years during World War II. Nobody saw it coming, it was a shock to the system which destroyed so many lives and livelihood…what can you do about it!"

“All the Indian players have been out of action for the last five months, while there is no home and away advantage as well. The good thing is they are starting with the T-20 format and not Test matches, which gets over in just over three hours," added Shastri when he was asked about which IPL team holds the advantage.

He further added, “The IPL could not have come at a better time as it would give some match time to Virat Kohli and the boys. It offers the UAE a chance to make a big statement if they can pull it off without a hitch.”