Arun Dhamal, BCCI treasurer on Wednesday cleared all doubts regarding IPL’s starting date. He made it clear that IPL would begin on the scheduled date.
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IPL to start on scheduled date
The treasurer of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Arun Dhumal on Wednesday said that the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) would begin on September 19 as planned earlier. There were speculations doing the rounds about the execution of the league after 13 Chennai Super Kings member including two players had tested positive last month. So there were reports that the tournament might be postponed, depending on the COVID-19 situation in the UAE.
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But the treasurer, Dhumal said that the event would take place as planned. “They all [CSK members] have come negative now. And the IPL will take place as scheduled; there is no doubt about that. Don’t worry, players are following the COVID-19 protocols and matches will be played without spectators. So, I don’t think there will be any problem with that,” Dhumal told IANS.
Change in schedule
But the Indian cricket board has not released the tournament schedule yet. Speaking about that Dhumal informed that the board is in talks with the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) about a few final things, “and hopefully the announcement will be made soon”. “IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel is also there in the UAE and he is working on it. The ECB is helping us in all the way possible. Just hope for the best.”
It is also learnt that the BCCI could go for a basic change in the schedule. The opening encounter of the tournament could be played between champions Mumbai Indians and the runners-up of 2018 edition, Sunrisers Hyderabad instead of Mumbai Indians and 2019 runners-up CSK. Apart from CSK all teams have hit the ground in the UAE. CSK will be resuming their training from September 4 once their quarantine period gets over.
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