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 Ravindra Jadeja. (Photo Source: IANS) 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. 2. Hosting Experience IPL 2014 champions. (Photo Source: SAP) The IPL was previously played in two countries apart from India– South Africa and UAE. In 2009, due to the bomb blasts in Mumbai, the tournament was shifted to South Africa. In 2014, half the tournament was played in UAE because of the general elections being held in India during that time. The UAE were very good hosts as the matches were held smoothly and everything went according to plan. Even though only the first half of the tournament was played in the Arab country, it was a huge success for both the BCCI and the Emirates Cricket Board, which is the cricket board of UAE. Given that UAE have a good experience in organizing the IPL in 2014, BCCI will be keen on conducting the 13th edition of the cash-rich tournament in the oil-rich country. 3. Venues in close proximity Despite the home team in action, almost no one showed up for the game. (Photo Source: Twitter) Even if the curve for the number of active cases in India would have flattened, a major problem in hosting the tournament in India would be the fact that all the stadiums are far away from each other. However, in the UAE, all the grounds are in close proximity to each other. There are 3 major stadiums in UAE, namely, Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Dubai International Cricket Stadium and Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium. These stadiums are located in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah which are all well connected. The travel time will be hugely reduced if the tournament is going to be played in just 3-4 stadiums and it will also be convenient to create a bio-secure environment to make sure the players and staff involved are secure. Moreover, the aforementioned stadiums have high-quality pitches. This plays a huge role in UAE being one of the front runners to host the IPL this year. 4. The time frame of the tournament Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) The proposed schedule for the 13th edition of IPL is either from 26th September to 8th November or from 26th September to 14th November. These months are exactly the time when the cricket season kicks off in the UAE. Historically, UAE has hosted international matches of Pakistan during the months of October and November. As the T20 World Cup was going to be played this year, UAE didn’t schedule any international matches during this period. But due to the huge possibility of the T20 World Cup being postponed to 2022 as India doesn’t want to swap its 2021 hosting rights with Cricket Australia as of now, a huge window of opportunity opens for BCCI to organise IPL 2020 in the gulf country. 5. To avoid more financial losses Virat Kohli checks MS Dhoni’s thumb. (Photo Source: Twitter) Slowly but surely, the BCCI is also feeling the financial pinch caused by COVID-19. The postponement of England’s tour of India will cause a loss of more than INR 450 crores to the Indian board. If the IPL 2020 does not take place, the BCCI will further lose another INR 4500 crores. To avoid such a huge loss, the BCCI will have to find a way to conduct the T20 extravaganza sooner rather than later as this could hugely impact the development of cricket in India. The tournament was going to be held in 3-4 stadiums in the Mumbai-Pune corridor but due to the alarming rate of cases in those two cities, it doesn’t look life a safe option. UAE is not only less affected by the pandemic but is also financially stable to host IPL 2020 which makes them a great candidate.

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5 reasons why IPL 2020 should be held in UAE

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.

2. Hosting Experience

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