OFFICIAL: IPL 2020 in UAE from 19 September to 10 November, Indian Govt. gives Green Signal

The IPL governing council has got the provisional approval from the Indian government to host the thirteenth edition of the league in UAE from September 19 to November 10. The governing council has also decided to limit the squad size to 24, keeping in mind the COVID-19 protocols.

 Indian government gives permission to host IPL in UAE

The much-awaited thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League is all set to get underway from September 19 as the Indian government gave the green signal to the BCCI to stage the event in UAE under certain conditions. The players will have to follow strict COVID-19 protocols.  The bio-secure bubble model which was implemented in the recently concluded England vs West Indies series will be followed in the IPL as well.

As per the instructions given out by the government, the IPL governing council has decided to stage for the first time in the history of the league, a weekday final contrary to the usual Sunday final. The final will be held on November 10 on the eve of the Diwali.

Also, the matches will be starting from 7.30 PM onwards and not from 8:00 PM. As decided earlier there will be no spectators at any of the three venues – Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah during the course of the tournament.

“The Governing Council also discussed the comprehensive Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), which will be finalized and published in due course, including the agencies to execute and deliver a bio-secure environment for the safe and successful conduct of IPL 2020 Season,” the statement added.

Teams instructed to trim the squad size to 24

It is decided that the squad size of all eight teams will be trimmed to 24 players per franchise. This won’t be a much of concern to many teams, only three out of the eight teams including Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals, and Sunrisers Hyderabad have a squad size above 24.

Despite the current political tension between India and China, the governing council has decided to stay with the same sponsors citing lack of time to look for alternatives. All the four main sponsors of the IPL are Chinese based firms.

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