5 reasons why IPL 2020 should be held in UAE

The on-going global pandemic has affected the international cricket circuit big time. The 2020 IPL edition, which was supposed to kick off on 29th March was indefinitely postponed by the BCCI due to the coronavirus outbreak. Another major tournament which was scheduled for 2020 was the T20 World Cup in Australia. This mega-event was highly anticipated because the previous edition was held four years ago, making it the biggest gap between two T20 World Cups.

Following the return of cricket, with England and West Indies facing each other in a behind closed doors Test series, BCCI proposed the idea of hosting the IPL 2020 in the months of September, October and November. Due to the increasing rate of COVID-19 patients in India, the two countries shortlisted to host the IPL were UAE and Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan cricket board did not show much interest in this regard which could also be due to the fact that they are thinking of hosting their own T20 league during the same period. If the tournament is held in the UAE, it is most likely to be held behind closed doors while being broadcasted to a worldwide audience.

The T20 World Cup was scheduled to run from October 18 to November 15 but due to the COVID-19 situation worsening in Australia, the tournament could easily be cancelled. If the T20 World Cup is postponed, BCCI will be quick to announce the dates and venue of IPL 2020. With the Asia Cup too being postponed, the decks are clear for the BCCI to hold the tournament in the UAE.

“As of now, nothing has been decided. We are watching the situation very closely and keeping track as far as hosting of the IPL is concerned. We are exploring all options and some countries have offered to hold IPL, UAE also. But we are going to wait and watch and will speak to the government also,” a BCCI source had revealed.

Here we take a look at 5 reasons why IPL 2020 should be held in UAE:

1. Safe environment

The UAE is more than capable of providing a bio-secure bubble to the teams and the players as they recently hosted the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) event UFC which is currently going on in Abu Dhabi.

UAE has battled impressively against the pandemic and will be ready to roll the red carpet for the competition. They are one of the least affected countries during the novel coronavirus crisis and that makes them an ideal candidate to host such a big global event.

As of June 23, UAE opened its borders to a few countries but on the other hand, most countries have still laid restrictions on international flights which acts as a plus point for UAE. Considering that Mumbai and Pune have emerged as COVID-19 hotspots, the BCCI hopes to get the government’s go-ahead for shifting the IPL to UAE to ensure the safety of the players involved.