England and Australian players to play from the 1st match of IPL 2020

After many months of discussion, BCCI decided to host the 13^th edition of IPL in the United Arab Emirates. The players of all the teams have to reach Dubai till 24^th August as they will have to go under a one week quarantine. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the BCCI to push some strict rules.

But, these rules aren’t favoring all the teams. A bilateral series between Australia and England is scheduled between 4^th and 16^th September. This meant they wouldn’t be available for teams before 18^th September, and the 1^st match of IPL is scheduled on 19^th September. This said the 29 players selected by various IPL teams had to miss the games played in 1^st week of IPL 2020. But, BCCI, due to constant pressure from the team management, relaxed its quarantine norm for England and Australian players. Now they will play all the matches of IPL 2020.

Teams and players who benefited from this change

A total of 29 players were auctioned to various IPL teams from England and Australia. The top draws are David Warner, captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad, the costliest buy Pat Cumins of KKR, etc. The biggest beneficiary of this relaxation is going to be Rajasthan Royals, which consists of players like Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, and Jofra Archer, who are in a perfect form.

The chief operating officer of Rajasthan royals, J.L. macCrum, validated the news that eng and as players can skip the seven day quarantine period set by BCCI and play all the matches from the start.

The decision

BCCI took this decision, keeping in mind that these players will be involved in a high profile series before the start of IPL and would be ready to hit the ground in UAE. The bilateral series planned between England and Australia will comprise of 6 white ball matches from 4^th to 16^th in Manchester and Southampton respectively. The players will be subjected to regular testing and bio-bubble, thus keeping them safe from any possible infection. This encouraged BCCI to update its quarantine rules.

Fixtures of IPL

IPL 2020 will begin on the nineteenth of September, and the last will be played on the tenth of November. The initial match will be played between the multiple times champion Chennai Super Kings and four-time champions, Mumbai Indians. The 53-day competition will have ten evening matches. They will begin at 15:30 IST, while the night matches will start at 19:30 IST. The games will be played in 3 urban communities of UAE; Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi.

In the latest move, Dream11 has taken the sponsorship rights of IPL 2020. It cost them a whopping amount of rupees 220 crores. This change comes amid Vivo, the previous sponsor of IPL backing off due to rising tensions among China and India.

What to expect from IPL 2020

Due to the current pandemic, IPL 2020 is going to be a behind the door affair. Players will be tested every 5^th day, and medics will be available 24/7 for any issue.

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