Due to the rising number of positive COVID-19 cases in India, BCCI is considering moving the 13th edition of IPL outside India. The race is between UAE and Sri Lanka depending on the coronavirus situation there. Even there the league will be played behind closed doors.
BCCI is awaiting an official decision on the fate of the T20 World Cup. The ICC board is expected to announce its final decision in the 3rd week of July.
If the T20 World Cup gets cancelled, the IPL is in all probability headed to foreign shores.
BCCI will suffer a loss of Rs 4,000 crore should it be forced to cancel the cash-rich league.
If IPL happens the T20 World Cup will be postponed and BCCI will clearly show its financial muscle against ICC. With the number of Covid-19 cases rising in India and keeping in mind the safety of the players it is a well thought move to host IPL in UAE or Sri Lanka. The Board admitted that it will go through âfinancial troublesâ if IPL 2020 does not take place. Sporting events have resumed in other countries and the leagues are being played under closed doors. But broadcasting and advertisement can pool in enough cash for BCCI to survive. It will be a win-win situation for fans as well as BCCI.
BCCI consulted with all the franchises, media rights partner (Star India) and the other stakeholders of the IPL and has identified tentative window from Sep 26th to Nov 8th for the most awaited league. But punters and bet makers be very careful in placing your bets because this IPL season will be solely played to make money in the current scenario when the economy is crippling and lack of unemployment will make IPL the best source of income
In 2009, the complete tournament was played in South Africa.
In 2014, the first 20 matches were played in UAE. UAE was also Indiaâs home in Asia Cup 2018. Since UAE has hosted IPL & AC in past, it remains the front-runner.
New Zealand Cricket board has offered the BCCI to host IPL 2020 as the island nation was successful with the way it contained COVID-19. Thinking of other hosts like UAE and Sri Lanka, New Zealand is a better option.
âStaging the event in India has to be the first choice but in case it is not safe to have it, then we will look at the overseas options. After UAE and Sri Lanka, New Zealand has also offered to host the IPL,â a senior BCCI official
UAE emerges as the front-runner for hosting the 2020 IPL.
The BCCI in its Apex Council meeting has zeroed down to UAE to host a curtailed IPL 13 between September and early November if the T20 World Cup 2020 is postponed.
The BCCI is now targeting a shortened windowof 5 to 6 weeks for IPL 2020.
Ahmedabad is expected to be the frontrunner for hosting the training camp if the BCCI conducts a training camp for the players.
Why the UAE?
Apart from the reduced quarantine period, the BCCI also believes that the UAE, being a travel hub, is well connected. Medical facilities and previous experience of hosting the IPL may work in the UAEâs favor.
The 13th edition of IPL is all set to move to UAE. As the BCCIâS Apex council met yesterday, it has been agreed that UAE is the safest destination for the IPL 2020. For the official announcement, BCCI is now just waiting for two things to fall in place.
Condition 1 â ICC announces the postponement of the T20 World Cup
Condition 2 â Indian Government permissions to take IPL 2020 out of India.
The schedule and format of the IPL 2020 will be finalized once both these conditions are met.
The ICC Board Meeting is scheduled for Monday and they can make an announcement about the T20 World Cup on the same day.
Domestic Cricket
During the meeting, the board informed itâs Apex Council that no domestic cricket would be held until December.
Be it the Ranji Trophy or any other age group event â nothing will resume before the end of this year.
Tournaments like Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and Challengers series will be scrapped and age-group tournaments too will take a major hit this season.
As many of the sports tournaments are getting resumed, IPL is most loved tournament and it comes as a festival for Indian cricket fans ,If IPL start here in India or in UAE it will be great to watch as UAE has earlier hosted the tournament twice on previous occasions. But its unlikely that matches will be played on empty stadiums it will be sad that fans cannot watch the matches on stadium.
Now that ICC said that it has postponed this year T20 World Cup, IPL chairman Brijesh Patel has confirmed that IPL 2020 set to be played in UAE.The board has written to the government seeking permission to host the tournament in UAE.
Ahmedabadâs Motera Stadium Set to Host Indian Playersâ Bio-Secure Training Camp
The Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad, the worldâs largest cricket stadium with a capacity of 1.10 lakh, is likely to host Indian cricketers in a camp ahead of the IPL 2020.
26 players and 18 support staff members will train in the stadium in a bio-secure environment.
MS Dhoni is not expected to be part of the training camp.
UAE has confirmed that they have received the official âLetter of Intentâ from BCCI to host IPL 2020. While the Emirates Cricket Board is still waiting for a notice from the BCCI that the Indian govt. has approved to move the IPL from India to the UAE.
IPL 2020: Participation of South African cricketers in doubt. SA players may miss out on the IPL riches while RCB and CSK could be hurt the most.**
Even though Cricket South Africa recently announced handing out NOCâs to their players, cricketers from SA are likely to miss out on IPL 2020 action. South Africa is currently under strict lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic with no international travel allowed by their government. If the ongoing travel restrictions continue to remain in effect till November, as many as 10 South African cricketers will lose out on a collective sum of âš34.6 crore (US$4.6 million) from their IPL 2020 salaries.
Both CSK and RCB have three Proteas cricketers each in their IPL 2020 line-ups. During the IPL 2020 trading and transfer window, CSK retained their veteran campaigners Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir and Lungi Ngidi while RCB retained their charismatic batsman AB de Villiers. Additionally, RCB also acquired paceman Dale Steyn and all-rounder Chris Morris at the auctions.
