There have been numerous rumours surrounding the IPL 2020 edition. It was scheduled to start from March but was infinitely postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Now, finally, after getting all the required permissions BCCI has officially announced that IPL 2020 will be held in the UAE starting from 19th September. The final will take place on Tuesday, 10th November, before the Diwali weekend.
All the evening matches will start from 7:30 pm IST and there will be 10 double-headers, meaning there will be 10 afternoon matches which will start from 3:30 pm IST. All the matches will be held in three stadiums: Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
Jay Shah, Honorary Secretary of BCCI wrote in an official statement: “The Indian Premier League Governing Council (IPL GC) met today via video-conference to decide on the issues concerning the VIVO IPL 2020 edition. Taking note of the prevailing COVID-19 situation in India, the IPL GC decided to stage the tournament in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the matches will be played in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi subject to necessary clearances from the Government of India.”
“VIVO IPL 2020 will be played from 19th September and the final will be played on 10th November 2020. The 53-day tournament will witness 10-afternoon matches starting at 15:30 IST while the evening matches will start at 19:30 IST.”
Another BCCI official said: “We have decided to go up till November 10 and so the final will be held on a weekday for the first time. Also, to ensure that there is enough gaps between games considering the travelling and the bio secure environment and keeping all these things in mind, we will have 10 double headers this season.”
Therefore, it has been confirmed that BCCI has retained VIVO as the title sponsor of IPL 2020. There are also many other Chinese sponsors on board.
All the 8 IPL teams will leave for the UAE after 26th August. Each team will be allowed to have a maximum of 24 players in their squad. COVID-19 replacements will be allowed in IPL 2020. If a player, unfortunately, gets affected by COVID-19 virus, he can be replaced during the course of the tournament.
Although no crowd will be allowed at the UAE stadiums initially, a limited number of fans might be allowed at stadiums from October, which is subject to approval from the UAE government.
Jay Shah further said: “The Governing Council also discussed the comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which will be finalised and published in due course, including the agencies to execute and deliver a bio-secure environment for safe and successful conduct of IPL 2020 Season. The Governing Council also reviewed the Player Regulations for replacement player for 2020 season.”
TATA group has already offered their helping hands to create the bio bubble for IPL 2020. But it hasn’t been finalised yet.
The Women’s T20 Challenge also got approved. It will take place in the UAE and will comprise three teams with four matches to be played during the IPL Playoff week, 1st November to 10th November.
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