It will be a full-fledged IPL, most likely in the UAE – IPL GC chairman Brijesh Patel

The Indian Premier League governing council chairman Brijesh Patel has confirmed that the tournament will be a full-fledged event and it will most likely take place in the UAE. Patel has revealed that the IPL could have 60 games in the 13th season of the league. Earlier, Patel had confirmed that the Indian board will seek permission from the government in the next 14 days to host the event in the UAE.

Things are expected to clear when the IPL governing council members will hold a meeting in the next week to start planning for the lucrative league.

BCCI is open to host the event overseas after Indian board president Sourav Ganguly had confirmed that the first priority is to host the event in India but it is not going to be possible now given the recent spike in the number of coronavirus cases.

Meanwhile, the earlier schedule had five double headers but it is expected that there will be more double headers in the tournament.

BCCI will also provide a Standard Operating Procedure to all the IPL teams even though the teams will have their individual SOPs in place.

“The IPL GC will meet within a week or 10 days and all decisions (including final schedule) will be taken there. As of now, the plan is to have a full fledged IPL comprising 60 games and most likely in the UAE,” Patel told PTI.

When asked about the challenges that could be faced to organise a big event during the tumultuous time, Patel added: “Just the operational side of it. Whether you do it here or outside, it doesn’t matter (with no crowds).”

It is also reported that there could be a camp for the Indian players in the UAE as the IPL is going to take place there. For the Test specialists players like Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari, who won’t take part in the IPL, there will be training camp at newly renovated Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad during the IPL. India is all set to tour Australia later in the year after the completion of the IPL.

As the ICC has decided to postpone the T20 World Cup, it looks promising that the Indian board will be able to host the IPL in the UAE.

UAE had also hosted the first leg of the 2014 IPL season as there were general elections in the country. It is going to be a challenge for the BCCI and they would need to tick the right boxes in their planning to stage the big event.