All about Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) in the UAE

• Schedule
• Match timings
• Squads
• Women’s T20 Challenge

UPDATE: Mumbai Indians have been crowned IPL Champions for the fifth time after beating Delhi Capitals in the final.

It’s time for cricket fans around the world to rejoice as the world’s premier T20 franchise, the Indian Premier League (IPL), is making its way back to the UAE in 2020! It’s a bittersweet moment for Indian fans, as the tournament has been moved out of its home country due to the severity of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in India.

But fans of international cricket can look forward to some exciting action after a relatively long lull. The tournament starts on 19th September with the two titans among the teams – Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) going head to head in Abu Dhabi.

Earlier, the UAE had already impressed IPL fans in 2014 when a part of the popular shorter-format game was held here because of national elections in its home country.

The IPL Governing Council recently announced their decision to conduct all matches in the UAE, so that cricket fans can finally get something exciting to watch on television. 

THE INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE 2020

Since its inception, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has become the most popular and lucrative T20 league in the world, attracting leading international stars to play for city-based teams. For the last 13 years, the Indian league was played during March and April. However, due to the COVID-19 crisis, it was pushed back this year.

While there were some concerns that live cricket would not return for the foreseeable future, the English Cricket Board (ECB) recently hosted the West Indies and Pakistan cricket teams in a secure environment, providing a model for other boards to follow. 

IPL 2020 SCHEDULE 

The tournament kicks off on the 19th of September, 2020 in Abu Dhabi. A total of 60 matches will be played with the league phase carrying on until 3rd November. Fans can enjoy doubleheaders on weekends in October and early November. The dates and venues for the playoffs and the big final will be announced at a later date. Don’t forget to mark the dates for all the big clashes.

IPL 2020 MATCH TIMINGS

The IPL 2020 match timings have been announced.

• Day Matches start at 02.00 pm (UAE time)
• Night Matches start at 06:00 pm (UAE time)

Since Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Dubai International Stadium and the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium have floodlights and as the evenings in the UAE are generally cooler, most matches will be played under lights.

IPL 2020 SQUADS

The eight IPL teams have been allotted a 24-player cap for their squads. However, the teams have been allowed to use unlimited substitutes if a player tests positive for COVID-19.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS SQUAD:

• Narayan Jagadeesan
• Ruturaj Gaikwad
• KM Asif
• Ravindra Jadeja
• M Vijay
• MS Dhoni
• Josh Hazlewood
• Kedar Jadhav
• Karn Sharma
• Piyush Chawla
• Ambati Rayudu
• Imran Tahir
• Deepak Chahar
• Faf du Plessis
• Shardul Thakur
• Mitchell Santner
• Dwayne Bravo
• Lungi Ngidi
• Sam Curran
• Monu Kumar
• Shane Watson
• Sai Kishore

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS SQUAD:

• Andre Russell
• Dinesh Karthik
• Harry Gurney
• Kamlesh Nagarkoti
• Kuldeep Yadav
• Lockie Ferguson
• Nitish Rana
• Prasidh Krishna
• Rinku Singh
• Sandeep Warrier
• Shivam Mavi
• Shubman Gill
• Siddhesh Lad
• Sunil Narine
• Pat Cummins
• Eoin Morgan
• Varun Chakravarthy
• Tom Banton
• Rahul Tripathi
• Chris Green
• M Siddharth
• Praveen Tambe
• Nikhil Naik

MUMBAI INDIANS SQUAD:

• Rohit Sharma
• Sherfane Rutherford
• Suryakumar Yadav
• Anmolpreet Singh
• Chris Lynn
• Saurabh Tiwary
• Dhawal Kulkarni
• Jasprit Bumrah
• Mitchell McClenaghan
• Rahul Chahar
• Trent Boult
• Mohsin Khan
• Prince Balwant Rai Singh
• Digvijay Deshmukh
• Hardik Pandya
• Jayant Yadav
• Kieron Pollard
• Krunal Pandya
• Anukul Roy
• Nathan Coulter-Nile
• Ishan Kishan
• Quinton de Kock
• Aditya Tare

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD SQUAD:

• Kane Williamson
• David Warner
• Manish Pandey
• Virat Singh
• Priyam Garg
• Abdul Samad
• Bhuvneshwar Kumar
• Khaleel Ahmed
• Sandeep Sharm
• Siddharth Kaul
• Billy Stanlake
• T Natarajan
• Abhishek Sharma
• Shahbaz Nadeem
• Mitchell Marsh
• Fabian Allen
• Vijay Shankar
• Mohammad Nabi
• Rashid Khan
• Sanjay Yadav
• Jonny Bairstow
• Wriddhiman Saha
• Shreevats Goswami
• Bavanaka Sandeep
• Basil Thampi

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE SQUAD:

• Virat Kohli
• AB de Villiers
• Gurkeerat Mann
• Devdutt Padikkal
• Aaron Finch
• Yuzvendra Chahal
• Mohammed Siraj
• Umesh Yadav
• Navdeep Saini
• Kane Richardson
• Dale Steyn
• Isuru Udana
• Moeen Ali
• Pawan Negi
• Shivam Dube
• Washington Sundar
• Chris Morris
• Pavan Deshpande
• Parthiv Patel
• Joshua Philippe
• Shahbaz Ahamad

KINGS XI PUNJAB SQUAD:

• Chris Gayle
• Mayank Agarwal
• Karun Nair
• Sarfaraz Khan
• Mandeep Singh
• Sheldon Cottrell
• Ishan Porel
• Ravi Bishnoi
• Mohammed Shami
• Mujeeb ur Rahman
• Arshdeep Singh
• Hardus Viljoen
• M Ashwin
• J Suchith
• Harpreet Brar
• Darshan Nalkande
• Glenn Maxwell
• James Neesham
• Chris Jordan
• Krishnappa Gowtham
• Deepak Hooda
• Tajinder Singh Dhillon
• KL Rahul (C)
• Nicholas Pooran
• Prabhsimran Singh

DELHI CAPITALS SQUAD:

• Shreyas Iyer
• Prithvi Shaw
• Ajinkya Rahane
• Shikhar Dhawan
• Jason Roy
• Ishant Sharma
• Amit Mishra
• Avesh Khan
• Sandeep Lamichhane
• Kagiso Rabada
• Keemo Paul
• Mohit Sharma
• Lalit Yadav
• Axar Patel
• Harshal Patel
• R Ashwin
• Marcus Stoinis
• Chris Woakes
• Rishabh Pant
• Alex Carey
• Shimron Hetmyer
• Tushar Deshpande

RAJASTHAN ROYALS SQUAD:

• Mahipal Lomror
• Manan Vohra
• Riyan Parag
• Steve Smith
• Robin Uthappa
• David Miller
• Ankit Rajpoot
• Mayank Markande
• Jofra Archer
• Shreyas Gopal
• Varun Aaron
• Jaydev Unadkat
• Kartik Tyagi
• Akash Singh
• Oshane Thomas
• Andrew Tye
• Ben Stokes
• Rahul Tewatia
• Shashank Singh
• Yashasvi Jaiswal
• Anirudha Joshi
• Tom Curran
• Jos Buttler
• Sanju Samson
• Anuj Rawat

WOMEN’S T20 CHALLENGE 

Besides the IPL, fans can also witness the Women’s T20 Challenge from 1st to 10th November. Three teams – Velocity, Supernovas and Trailblazers will compete for the cup.  

THE SOPs 

The safety of all participants is of paramount importance for the boards hosting the league (Emirates National Board) and The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) – the organisers. Hence, strict standard operating procedures SOPs will be enforced during the tournament.  

IPL in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi will follow all the necessary measures to ensure the safety of players. The BCCI has ensured that all teams follow stringent guidelines around coronavirus prevention measures. Upon the teams’ arrival, close to 2,000 tests were conducted. Different groups were tested including players, team management, BCCI staff, IPL operational team, support staff, hotel and ground transport staff. 13 individuals, including two players, tested positive and have been self-isolating.

Going forward, any breach of the bio-security protocols by players or team support staff will be punishable under the IPL Code of Conduct Rules. 

Mega-events are slowly returning to the UAE. IPL in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi will bring a lot of joy to cricket fans in the country, especially Indian expats. The initial seasons of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) were also held in these well-equipped stadiums. The UAE has a rich history when it comes to sports. Top cricket academies in Dubai are available where students can train in this wonderful sport.

Follow MyBayut to keep up to date regarding all the sporting events taking place in the UAE. 

Title image credit: IPLT20 Official Website