IPL 2020’s one of the venues- Abu Dhabi has recently seen the surge in the case of COVID-19. This has led to a delay in the announcement of the fixtures of the tournament because the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is mulling to restrict the number of matches in Abu Dhabi.
All the eight IPL franchises have reached the UAE to follow the quarantine period ahead of the tournament. Only Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders are based in Abu Dhabi while the other six franchises are in Dubai. As now the cases have increased in Abu Dhabi, they might have to find a solution. As per reports in Hindu, earlier, it was considered to exclude Abu Dhabi from hosting the matches but now BCCI is planning to lessen the number of matches there.
“It could be a case of two teams playing home and away games back to back, similar to 2011,” said an IPL insider. “As of now, Abu Dhabi could host a few matches only in the first half.”
Due to the recent spike in cases, Abu Dhabi’s regional authorities have made a rapid test mandatory at the entry point. As of now, there are over 9000 active cases in the UAE. This number is far less than active cases in India. However, BCCI doesn’t want to take the risk as one mistake could spoil the whole tournament.
IPL franchise to start practice sessions:
Players will soon start their training camps after undergoing COVID-19 tests. Teams like Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab may start their training at Sharjah and ICC Academy in Dubai from Thursday.
IPL 2020 is a 53-days tournament during which 60 games will be played in the three venues. It would be the first time that the UAE would be hosting the whole tournament. In IPL 2014, Dubai had hosted the first half of the tournament when India had general elections.