IPL 2020 to be held on UAE

Dubai Sports City head of cricket and events Salman Hanif said they hold the faciliities ready for such an eventuality in India in the middle of reports that the currently suspended IPL could be held in the UAE due to the rising COVID-19 cases in India.

The IPL 2020 intends to protect the window of September / October, to be caught just when the fate of the T20 World Cup in Australia is exceedingly unpredictable. Speaking of ‘Gulf News,’ Hanif said Dubai Sports City is prepared as a potential venue for the IPL T20 League which incorporates the Dubai International Stadium and the ICC Academy.
“In case a large number of matches are accommodated within a smaller time-frame, the stadium has nine wickets on top. We won’t schedule matches to keep the wickets fresh, “Hanif said.

Over 50,000 cases and 300 deaths have been reported in the UAE due to the fatal pandemic that has devastated the planet. At the other hand, India ‘s case count has reached the 10 lakh mark, with more than 25,000 deaths. On several occasions BCCI Chairman Sourav Ganguly has repeatedly reiterated his desire for the IPL to be held even if it is necessary abroad this year. The ICC is set to call on the future of next week’s T20 World Cup.

If the IPL gets the window for September-October, the 8 franchises would like their players here to arrive a little quickly to guarantee the players some practice. Since March Indian cricketers have been confined to their homes primarily by national lock-downs, some of them have recently started their own network activities. “Training facilities would never be an concern because we hosted past multi-team competitions. There are only 38 wickets in the ICC complex, spread across the two Oval fields, the artificial turf wickets and the state of the art indoor installations, if the heat is needed”, Hanif said.