On Saturday, the chief of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council, Brijesh Patel went on to reveal that the schedule of IPL 2020 will be announced on September 6. The tournament will be held between September 19 and November 10 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) around three venues – Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah.

While the tournament is scheduled to be commencing on Saturday, the final will be played on a weekday for the first time in its 13-year history. The match timings have also been revised this season as the evening matches are scheduled to be starting at 7:30 pm IST, instead of 8 pm IST which was the norm in the past. The season will consist of 10-afternoon matches.

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The 53-day tournament was originally scheduled to be commencing on March 29 to May 4 but it had to be postponed by nearly 6 months due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was able to host the tournament between the September-November window after the postponement of the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Australia due to the corona crisis.

Confirming about the IPL 2020 scheduled, Brijesh Patel said, “Schedule of IPL 2020 that starts from 19th September in UAE will be released tomorrow (September 6).”

All 8 franchises have completed their quarantine period in the UAE with the three-time champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK) being the latest team to start training outdoors. 13 members, including fast bowler Deepak Chahar and batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad, of their contingent had tested positive for Covid-19 because of which they had to undergo self-isolation in their hotel rooms for an additional 7 days.

IPL 2020 will be played in bio-bubble environments in Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi. Players completed a mandatory 6-day quarantine period during which they were tested for Covid-19 thrice.

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Meanwhile, the Women’s T20 Challenge will also be taking place in the UAE and will comprise three teams with four matches to be played during the IPL Playoff week.