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The 13th edition of this mega tournament is all set to be held in the United Arab Emirates. A media report stated that the UAE Cricket Board has made an offer to the BCCI that it can host the Indian Premier League 2020, which has been postponed indefinitely due to coronavirus pandemic.
India has been observing a great surge in the number of cases of COVID-19 regularly and it is almost impossible currently for BCCI to conduct the tournament in India for the next couple of months.
Since the UAE has accommodated the tournament in the past, it makes them the front- runners to host the tournament this time. Sri Lanka Cricket is among the other countries to come up with an offer but the cash-rich league is unlikely to go there.
In 2014, UAE has hosted the first phase (20 matches) of IPL due to the Lok Sabha elections clashing with the tournament in India.
UAE has already started preparations to host Indian players for training sessions ahead of the mega tournament. The detonations surrounding the circumstances of a possible happening of the Indian Premier League have possibly come to an end.
The Head of Cricket & Events of Dubai Sports City – Salman Hanif, informed Gulf News that they have already begun preparations and aren’t scheduling any matches in the designated grounds to keep the wickets fresh. “The stadium has nine wickets on the top in case a large number of matches have to be accommodated within a smaller time-frame. We will not be scheduling any matches there to keep the wickets fresh,” Hanif informed Gulf News.
UAE cricket officials are very optimistic about hosting the mega league as they feel they have the required facilities and grounds which are nearby to each other that can certainly facilitate them to create a bio-secure environment for the players amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The practice facilities are never going to be a problem as we have hosted multi-team events before. In the ICC complex alone, there are 38 wickets – spread over the two Oval grounds, the simulated turf wickets as well as the state-of-the-art indoor facilities in case they want to beat the heat,” Hanifadded Keeping in mind the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament is going to be played behind closed doors in UAE too.
However, the Board of Cricket Control in India is said to make their final statement after the pinnacle council meeting that is scheduled to happen today. The BCCI is staring at a massive loss of INR 4,000 crore if the cash-rich league gets canceled. The board has been adjourning their decision due to the clash of schedule with the T20 Cricket World Cup that is most likely to get canceled or postponed by the International Cricket Council during their meeting on July 20.
