Mumbai: The governing council of the Indian Premier League is likely to finalize the schedule on 2 August and discuss other arrangements for the eagerly awaited event to be held in the UAE this year.
An out-of-country tournament due to the extreme COVID-19 pandemic will be held from September 19 to November 8.
A senior BCCI official, who did not wish to be named, told PTI, “The IPL Governing Council is expected to meet on August 2. The franchise will be assigned an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) after the meeting.”
Top BCCI brass including President Sourav Ganguly and Secretary Jai Shah is expected to attend, the meeting will address the concerns of various stakeholders.
Both Ganguly and Shah’s tenures are over, but both have demanded the Supreme Court relax the criteria of the recommendation of the Lodha Committee, which will be heard on August 17.
Also, most likely, this version of the IPL will have a lower number of doubleheaders which will be beneficial for broadcasters.
Another difficult issue that is likely to come up is whether the families of the players will be allowed to accompany them.
A senior franchise official told PTI that keeping players away from their families for two months would be “criminal” and that too in a tidy environment.
“During normal times, wives and girlfriends join players during a specified period but this is a completely different scenario. If families travel, can they be restricted to rooms without being able to move around normally Huh?” An officer asked.
“There will be players who have children between the ages of 3 and 5 and how would you put them in a room for two months?” he added.
Also Read: Emirates Cricket Board Confirms Receiving BCCI’s Official Letter To Host IPL 2020
While it is expected that most franchisees can send their recurring teams to the UAE to test facilities as well as create a bio-safe environment, there are concerns, including housing planning and catering services.
(With PTI Inputs)
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and like us on Facebook for the latest updates and interesting stories.
