Clash with a limited-over series in the UK, and COVID-19 regulations in UAE may not allow players from England and Australia to take part in the first week of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
IPL governing council chairman Brijesh Patel has said that the BCCI is looking to start IPL 2020 from September 19 in UAE, pending government approval.
The third and final ODI of the series between England and Australia is expected to be scheduled on September 16 in Manchester, just three days before the first game of the IPL. The players could fly from London to Dubai on the day of the final international fixture of the English summer.
But, according to a report in Inside Sport, "once they reach UAE, as per the local government directives they will have to undergo Covid19 test. Only if they test negative, the players will be allowed to move out from the isolation zone of the UAE government. This process will take 48-72 hours."
"Post that players and the franchises will have to follow the SOP’S set by the BCCI and IPL 2020. This entire process will take 7-10 days before the England & Australian cricketers are allowed to join their respective franchises to participate in the IPL 2020," the report states.
An official from one of the eight IPL franchises was quoted saying, "BCCI and IPL GC will soon release Standard Operating Procedures for the franchises, players and other stakeholders of the league. We will be following the same diligently."
"We are hearing that international cricketers will only be allowed to join the league and respective squads after strict testing norms and after fulfilling the subsequent procedures."
As many as 17 players from Australia and 11 from England are due to turn up in IPL 2020, having signed multimillion contracts with various franchises. These include big names such as David Warner, Steve Smith, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, who are all UK-bound as well.
In another news, even though Cricket South Africa (CSA) has agreed to provide NOCs to its players for the IPL, all of them, including the great AB de Villiers, remain doubtful to fly across to the Middle East.
Currently, the rainbow nation is under a strict lockdown because of the health threat, with no international flights allowed. With the spike in the number of COVID-19 positive cases, it remains greatly uncertain when the airports will begin reoperating. That being a hurdle to Proteas' CPL 2020 inclusion, is also likely to affect their IPL 2020 participation, unless BCCI makes some special arrangements for the same.
"Cricket South Africa will definitely provide players with the NOCs for the Indian Premier League, but logistics are not something in our hands," said CSA media manager, Koketso Gaofetoge.
(Inputs from Inside Sport)
