The Indian contingent of Delhi Capitals departed on Saturday for the United Arab Emirates to take part in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The DC franchise uploaded the pictures of their players and staff leaving for Dubai from Mumbai on their official social media platforms.
The Indian players and the coaching staff of the Delhi franchise had already assembled in Mumbai earlier this week. And after all of them tested negative for COVID-19, the entire unit left for the UAE.
Most of the IPL franchises, namely Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indiansa nd Royal Challengers Bangalore, have already reached UAE where the 13th edition of the IPL will be played from September 19 to November 10.
The 2020 season of the IPL will be played for 53 days across three venues in the UAE — Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai.
The final match will be played on a Tuesday, to make it the first-ever IPL to have its final on a weekday. The matches this season will also start 30 minutes before their original time of 4 PM and 8 PM.
The IPL 2020, which was scheduled to be played from March 29 this year, was earlier postponed to April 15 before it was suspended again due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, after the International Cricket Council (ICC) formally announced the postponement of the T20 World Cup, the BCCI capitalised on the opportunity to stage the IPL during the time the T20 World Cup was dated to take place.
But with the coronavirus situation escalating in India with each passing day, the Indian board decided to move the tournament out of the country. It is believed, UAE was chosen keeping in mind their prior experience of hosting a limited part of the tournament in 2014.