IPL in UAE from Sept 19

New Delhi: This year’s Indian Premier League will take place, subject to government clearances, between September 19 to November 10 in three ‘bio-secure’ venues in the United Arab Emirates. The Twenty20 league was originally scheduled to begin in late March but had to be put off because of the COVID-19 crisis, leaving the BCCI staring at a potential loss in revenue in the hundreds of millions. The postponement of this year’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia because of the pandemic, however, threw a lifeline to the Twenty20 league boasting most of the big names in contemporary cricket. However there were no realistic chances of hosting it this year in India, currently the third worst affected country in the world with nearly 1.7 million confirmed cases and 36,500 deaths. “...the IPL GC decided to stage the tournament in the United Arab Emirates and the matches will be played in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi subject to necessary clearances from the government of India,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement after the league’s governing council meeting. Cricket boards in the UAE and Sri Lanka had offered to host the popular eightteam league. The 2009 edition of the franchise-based competition coincided with India’s elections and was held in South Africa.Reuters