Cricket New Normal: IPL Extravaganza will hit screens from September 19.
The thirteenth version of the Twenty20 cricket extravaganza, the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020), will run from 19th September 2020 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The 53-day-long tournament would see around 70 matches, including practice matches during the period; afternoon matches would start at 3:30pm IST and afternoon matches at 7:30pm IST. The matches will be played in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. Eight teams or franchises will participate in the tournament: Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore. The IPL Governing Council under the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced Dream11, an Indian company based in Mumbai, as title sponsor of IPL 2020 thanks to the departure of former title sponsor Vivo, a Chinese company. . . According to available news reports, it has almost been decided not to have actual spectators for the mega-event, as officials in both countries have found it too risky to have crowds inside stadiums in light of the raging COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, as known from reports, there would instead be huge LED screens in the stadiums that can connect fans from various locations where they can watch the action live and take part in the proceedings. In addition to those screens, matches would reach small television screens around the world under BCCI’s live broadcast arrangements with Star Sports.
The IPL 2020 teams had started arriving at different locations in the UAE since August 20, 2020 thanks to the strict COVID-19 regulations and the new normal cricket rules. Members of the teams arriving in Dubai were isolated in their hotel rooms for 7 days during which they were required to undergo three COVID tests, and only after the final test was negative would they be allowed to go to the practice sessions. On the other hand, teams arriving in Abu Dhabi were quarantined in hotels for 14 days as per the COVID protocol applicable there, which reportedly upset some members of the teams. This brings us to the topic of the different protocols followed in different places.
The protocols followed in Abu Dhabi are stricter due to the coronavirus situation, and there are also travel restrictions between Abu Dhabi and Dubai or Sharjah. For example, players traveling from Dubai or Sharjah to Abu Dhabi will be required to undergo rapid COVID tests at the internal border and only after they test negative will they be allowed to enter the city. Cricket administrators have found that this particular restriction is not entirely compatible with the demanding situation on match days. And, due to this annoying problem, the BCCI has so far not been able to fix and announce the match schedule. The IPL Governing Board or Council has reportedly been considering splitting the tournament into two matches: most of the first-leg matches are played in Dubai and Sharjah, where restrictions are somewhat relaxed, and the remaining matches in Abu Dhabi in the first leg. second leg.
Although the match schedule has yet to be announced on the official IPL website, an inadvertent tweet from Rohit Sharma, captain of the defending champions Mumbai Indians, where he paid rich tributes to MS Dhoni, captain of Chennai Super Kings and who retired from international cricket. Recently, before facing him in the first match, he revealed that the first match of the tournament could be played between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, but there is no idea of the venue yet.
Cricket fans and revelers in India are eagerly waiting for the new normal IPL 2020 to unfold in their homes in all its grandeur and brilliance from 19th September 2020 to 10th November when the ultimate final will be played. Since the tournament was being held outside of India, for the second time in IPL history, this would mean Indian fans would not be traveling to the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin has left his team and joined Delhi Capitals, and Chris Gayle, after undergoing two COVID-19 tests and coming back negative, has arrived in Dubai to join his Kings team. XI Punjab.