IPL 2020: Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni likely to play together in All Stars charity game

The Indian Premier League (IPL) Governing Council met on Monday where a wide range of topics from deciding on the time slot of the fixtures to conducting just five double-headers and the date and venue of the final of the cash-rich league was discussed. Apart from this, there was another interesting development as for the first time in the history of the IPL, a one-off all-star charity match will precede the opening game of the tournament and will be played three days ahead of the season opener.

If the recent reports are considered, the teams are likely to be formed by combining players from the franchises located in the north and east of India: Delhi Capitals, Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals, and Kolkata Knight Riders- and the four teams in the south and west: Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, the idea of the concept to host the all-star match came from the current president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India [BCC] Sourav Ganguly and IPL governing council chairman Brijesh Patel, both of whom were present at the meeting.

A rare chance to see AB, Virat, Rohit, and MSD play for the same team

So, what does the grouping of these franchises mean? It means that by combining the west and the south zone, fans might be able to see the likes of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga playing for the same team. Similarly from the other team consisting of cricketers from the north and east franchises, we might see the likes of Dre Russ [Andre Russell], Rishabh Pant, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Shreyas Iyer, Pat Cummins, Eoin Morgan, Jofra Archer playing in the same team.

The venue of the game is yet to be decided. One of the other key things that were discussed at the governing council meeting was the timings of the evening matches. Earlier, the franchises, as well as broadcasters, had urged the governing council to consider changing the time of the evening game from -8:00 PM to 07:30 PM. However, that hasn’t turned out to be the case as the governing council decided to leave the timings unchanged.

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