IPL franchises seek special, chartered planes to make tournament happen in UAE: Report

The IPL 2020, which was originally slated to commence on March 29, was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, the BCCI has been in a fix about the commencement of the cash-rich league. However, after a lot of speculation, the IPL looks set to be played in the UAE this year. According to reports, the IPL 2020 will be played between September 26 and November 8. Meanwhile, the franchises have started gearing up for the 13th edition of the tournament.

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IPL franchises leaving no stone unturned to ensure the safety of players

The UAE had hosted IPL in 2014 when the first 20 matches of the cricketing extravaganza were played in the Middle East country owing to the general elections that year. And now, with IPL 2020 reportedly shifting to UAE amidst the coronavirus scare, the IPL franchises are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that all the precautionary measures are taken. In another development, it has been reported that franchises are planning for chartered planes to take players to the UAE.

While speaking to Times Now, an IPL franchise official said that according to him, most teams, if not all, are already looking at hiring chartered planes. He added that no one knows if there will be regular flights operating by the end of August and most teams would wish to be in the UAE by the last week of August or at max the first week of September. 

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The official further said that's why the best way is to hire chartered planes as we will all have around 35-40 people flying to UAE. He reckoned that the number of members obviously increases when you are headed outside and have restrictions in movement in times like these. Another official said that they are looking at having the players come together in India, go through a period of spending time in a bio-secure environment and then get their tests done and head to UAE.

He further said that the reason behind it is they are all staying at home and if one of them is asymptomatic, they have the risk of infecting others. He opined that is why it is better to go through a couple of weeks of isolation and testing here in the country before heading out.

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On Friday, July 17, the Sourav Ganguly-led board conducted a meeting but chose against announcing IPL 2020 dates. One of the reasons behind not announcing IPL 2020 dates was because of the ICC, who is yet to take a call on the T20 World Cup. The ICC board is set to have a virtual meeting on Monday and the BCCI is hoping that the apex cricketing board would formally announce about the postponement of the T20 World Cup.

The T20 World Cup was supposed to be held from October 18 to November 15 in Australia but the country’s cricket board had, in May itself had expressed its inability to host the marquee event amid a second surge of COVID-19 cases.

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IMAGE COURTESY: INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE TWITTER