BCCI confirms IPL to be held in UAE

New Delhi, May 29: The general body of the BCCI on Saturday approved the IPL’s resumption in September in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Special General Meeting (SGM), held virtually, lasted for about 50 minutes as the members were unanimous in their approval of the two agendas on the day.

“The SGM approved the decision to hold the remaining matches of IPL between September and October. The dates will be intimated later,” a senior state association member, who was present in the meeting said.

“In September, it’s the time for retreating monsoon in India. Also the fact that three grounds in the UAE makes it easier as we had seen in 2020.”

The likely dates will be between September 18 and October 10.

While IPL’s UAE shift was a foregone conclusion, the office bearers intimated the general body about the issue of availability of players.

“The BCCI is pretty clear that even if there is a case of unavailability of English players due to their series against Pakistan, we are not going to plead to any of the boards about releasing their players.

“The first and foremost thing is to complete the 31 remaining games of IPL. We believe other aspects will be taken care of,” he added.

The IPL, the world’s richest cricket tournament, was half finished when it was halted on May 4 after a number of players and team officials caught Coronavirus despite being in bio-secure bubbles.

The board has since been in tough negotiations with other countries and the ICC on when to squeeze the remaining matches.