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 pandemic.
Kings XI Punjab team traveling to UAE. (Photo: Twitter/@lionsdenkxip)
Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals on Thursday became the first teams to depart for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to take part in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Kings XI Punjab posted pictures of their players on the flight to the Arab country where the 13th season of the IPL will be played from September 19 to November 10.
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Rajasthan Royals players, on the other hand, were seen adhering to all kind of safety measures due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. All the cricketers and the staff of the Jaipur-based team were spotted wearing PPE kits at the airport.
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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.
“IPL 2020 will be played from September 19 and the final will be played on November 10, 2020. The 53-day tournament will witness 10-afternoon matches starting at 15:30 IST while the evening matches will start at 19:30 IST,” the BCCI release had stated.
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.
Sri Lanka and New Zealand had, reportedly, expressed their desire to stage the IPL as well. Their offers were rejected as monsoon could have played a spoilsport there during this time of the year.
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