While the international cricket resumed with the England-West Indies Test series last week, Team India are yet to hit the ground running with a proper camp in wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
It has been more than four months since India’s last international assignment and there is no clarity on their next fixture yet.
Amid the crisis, the BCCI is discussing the possibility of hosting a camp for its contracted players before the 13th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL).
As per a report published in The New Indian Express, United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the first choice to host this year’s IPL in October, provided that the COVID-19 situation doesn’t improve in Mumbai.
The report further claims that the Indian board is contemplating Dubai for the national camp if UAE is finalised as the host.
A clearer picture about the same will come out after the July 17 Apex Council meeting as the BCCI is yet to finalise its Standard Operating Procedures with regards to resuming cricketing activities.
Ahead of stepping on the park whenever the COVID-19 hiatus is over, cricketers will have to regain an optimum level of fitness so that their bodies are ready to go through the grind. No wonder, the Indian team management had informed the board earlier that it wants at least a six-week training camp before featuring in any series.
Apart from the Australia tour towards the end of the year, there are no international fixtures scheduled for Virat Kohli and company at the moment.
According to the report, the BCCI wants to organise the IPL 2020 in October-November. Even though the franchises will have their own camps before the cash-rich event, the parent body is understood to be looking at a short camp to assess the fitness of its players.
But it is not going to be an easy task because of time restrictions. Hence, the BCCI is mulling over International Cricket Council Academy in Dubai for the camp as players can join the franchises without any hassle.
“By the looks of it, UAE will mostly host the IPL, unless the situation improves dramatically in Mumbai. So the camp there makes more sense in every way possible. Once the IPL venue is decided, then expect things to move forward quickly,” sources following developments told the same newspaper.
