The 13th edition of the Indian Premeir League (IPL 2020) is scheduled to begin from September 19, with less than 20 days are left for the start, and also it has been more than a week when all the teams have reached UAE, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to announce the schedule.
According to the report in TOI, franchises has requested BCCI to announce the schedule soon.
“God knows, when will they (BCCI) share the schedule with us. We have requested the BCCI, both orally and through texts, to make it quick as we have to plan accordingly,” a team source told IANS from UAE.
“Someone said by Monday or Tuesday, we will get it, but can’t confirm it,” he added.
The primary reason behind the delay in the schedule was the inter-emirates travel restriction between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, which has been after talks between the IPL governing council and the Emirates Cricket Board. After which it was speculated that BCCI will announce the schedule on Saturday.
But the BCCI had held on to the schedule after 13 members of Chennai Super Kings including two players tested positive for Coronavirus.
The reason behind the further delay could be the sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in Abu Dhabi, which is one of the major venue of the tournament apart from Sharjah and Dubai, sources said.
Franchises have also concerns about proper communication regarding the test results, it has erupted after delay response by BCCI in releasing the statement. Though BCCI have issued a statement and confirmed the news about the infected members without sharing their names.
This also irked some franchises. “They should have at least told us about the members, who all got infected. For our safety,” the source added.