IPLtotake Dubaiflight?

The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League 2020 is lLikely to be played in UAE, tournament could be curtailed to between five or six weeks.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has zeroed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to host Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 if the International Cricket Council (ICC) postpones the T20 World Cup, scheduled for October-November.

The development comes after the BCCI Apex Council meeting which was held via teleconference on Friday. The roadmap for IPL 2020 was among the primary item in an 11-point agenda marked for the meeting.

UAE, which had hosted the first leg of IPL in 2014, was zeroed in as the frontrunner as the board expects the quarantine period to come down to a day or so during the window targetted for the IPL.

IPL was suspended until further notice after it missed the April-May deadline due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, told India Today, that the board is keen on hosting the T20 tournament if the ICC decides to postpone the T20 World Cup.

The ICC deferred its call on the T20 World Cup to July, saying it wants to take a 'right' decision as it 'gets only one chance to make' it.

UAE's lesser quarantine period rule made it easy for BCCI to select the nation as the frontrunner for hosting the cash-rich league. Other points like UAE being a travel hub, having good flight connections and medical facilities added up to the benefit of the gulf nation.

During the meeting, the training camp for the players of the Indian national team also came up for discussion. Dharamsala and Ahmedabad were discussed as two options where a bio-bubble can be created but then Dharamsala was ruled out because of lack of accommodation.

Meanwhile, the Indian players are likley to move in the first week of August to UAE for work out.