IPL 2020 to kickstart without opening ceremony and cheerleaders

Apart from action on the field, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is also known for its glitz and glamour. However, this time around, the focus will only be on cricket, bearing in mind the COVID-19 pandemic the world has been going through in the last few months. The IPL won’t be having the opening ceremony and BCCI’s move in the current scenario can’t be questioned either.

The cash-rich tournament won’t be having cheerleaders as well. The tournament begins on Saturday, September 19 with the opening game between three-time IPL winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Sourav Ganguly hoping for decent TRPs during IPL

Recently, Sourav Ganguly, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), sounded confident about the IPL, generating ‘the highest TRP ratings’. The veteran also reckoned that crowds at venues may also be allowed at the latter stage of the tournament, applying the social-distancing and other necessary protocols.

“They (broadcasters) are actually expecting the highest rating of IPL this season because they believe if (people) don’t turn up in the ground, they will be actually watching on their television sets. There is a positive in everything,” Ganguly was quoted as saying during an online lecture as part of the ‘Symbiosis Golden Jubilee Lecture Series’.

“…because of the COVID and infection, you don’t want people to be too close to each other, but very soon you will see there will be 30 per cent people in the ground with social distancing. They are properly tested and allowed to enter the ground. But I think that is going to happen over a period of time,” he added.

The BCCI has had to go through a lot of hassles after the IPL had to be postponed back in March. Chinese mobile brand VIVO, backing out as the title sponsors, also set the cat amongst the pigeons in their dugout. However, the world’s richest cricket board managed to rope in fantasy-gaming platform Dream11.

56 matches in the league stage will be played with the final to take place on November 10. Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi are the three venues for the tournament.