Reports: BCCI likely to announce IPL 2020 schedule on August 29

Indian Premier League 2020 is expected to kick off from September 19th. All the teams have already reached UAE as the dates of the first and final match was announced earlier. The reason for the delay in the announcement of the schedule was known to be the recent spike in the number of COVID-19 patients in Abu Dhabi.

The city is one of the three venues of the tournament in UAE. The Board members of BCCI and the Emirates Cricket Board seem to have resolved all the issues relating to the schedule. There were discussions about the safety of players and the inter-city travel of the cricketers.

“Just small pieces of the jigsaw puzzles are remaining and we should resolve them and release the schedules soon. ECB chief’s support in the matter was of great help. We will incorporate changes in the schedule as per our discussions with the local authorities,” said one of the BCCI sources currently in Dubai as reported by Cricket Next.

First game likely to be played between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings

The regulations in Abu Dhabi are much rigorous than the other cities. Every person entering the Emirate has to be tested for coronavirus. Each rapid test would cost AED 50. But the protocols seem to be changing for the IPL franchises.

The players from Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders started training in Abu Dhabi. The regulations regarding quarantine rules have been relaxed for both the franchises from 14 days to 7 days. The schedule is expected to come out on Saturday (August 29), however, a few days back, Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma revealed that the first game will be played between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings through a congratulatory text for MS Dhoni.

The cash-rich league has been shifted to the UAE as the situation is not appropriate for such a big league to be conducted in India. The pandemic is under control in UAE and that made it the first choice as a makeshift venue. This is not the first time the exhibition is being played in the middle east country, due to general elections, IPL’s first leg was moved to UAE in 2014.