According to the recent reports, preparations have already been started in UAE for training sessions for hosting the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. The rumors making rounds regarding the circumstances of a possible happening of the IPL have maybe come to an end. The upcoming edition of the cash-rich league is all set to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
A media report said that the UAE Cricket Board has offered BCCI to give them hosting rights of the IPL 2020, which has been postponed indefinitely due to coronavirus pandemic. In last month or so, the case of COVID-19 has increased exponentially in India and BCCI has to move the tournament out of the country as it is almost impossible to organize the league in India in near future. Hence, the board is considering an option to give the hosting rights to other countries as the franchise owners have also agreed to the same.
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Since the UAE has hosted the first half (20 matches) of the tournament in 2014, it makes them the front-runners to host the tournament this time. Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is among the other countries to have offered hosting the tournament. Nevertheless, an official announcement from the BCCI is still awaited.
Informing about the same, the Head of Cricket & Events of Dubai Sports City — Salman Hanif, told Gulf News that they have already started preparations. He said, “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.”
UAE cricket officials are looking forward to hosting the tournament as they feel they have the required facilities and grounds which are nearby to each other and the bio-secure environment can easily be created for the players amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Describing the same, Hanif said, “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.”
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However, the BCCI is expected to take a final call during the apex council meeting that is scheduled to happen today (Friday). The BCCI is staring at a massive loss of INR 4,000 crore if the cash-rich league gets canceled.
