On Thursday, the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) became the first franchise to depart for the UAE for the upcoming edition of the cash-rich league. KXIP pacer, Mohammed Shami shared a picture of himself in a flight and he captioned the post as: “Apne Munde, off to Dubai.”
Later in the day, Rajasthan Royals has also departed for UAE as confirmed by the franchise on Twitter. The franchise shared pictures of its players getting ready to depart for the UAE and they captioned the post as — “UAE ready.” KXIp also informed about the same on Twitter as they wrote: “#SaddaSquad Heart suitLion face. Can you identify each one of them with the Face with medical mask on? Thinking face. #SaddaPunjab #IPL2020.”
UAE ready! 😷💗#HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily pic.twitter.com/fJaUrFSwq5
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) August 20, 2020
#SaddaSquad ♥️🦁
Can you identify each one of them with the 😷 on? 🤔#SaddaPunjab #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/H7J5NRujvC
— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) August 20, 2020
Earlier, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) CEO Kasi Viswanathan had confirmed that the MS Dhoni-led side will be leaving for UAE on August 21. The 13th edition of the IPL will be played for 53 days, between September 19 and November 10, across three venues in UAE — Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai.
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The final match is scheduled to be played on a weekday, i.e. Tuesday, for the first time in the history of the cash-rich league. This time, both the afternoon and evening matches will be played half-an-hour earlier than usual.
Informing about the same in a press release, BCCI had stated, “IPL 2020 will be played from September 19 and the final will be played on November 10, 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.”
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The IPL was originally slated to be played from March 29, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
