August 2 to offer a final shape to the schedule and other arrangements for the eagerly-awaited T20 showpiece to be held within the UAE this year.
The tournament, forced out of India thanks to the raging COVID-19 pandemic, are going to be held from September 19 to November 8 within the UAE.
“The IPL governing council will meet on August 2,” IPL Chairman Brijesh Patel told PTI.
Another top official of the BCCI said that the eight franchises will get a transparent picture of the tournament’s modalities during the meeting.
“It is predicted that franchises are going to be handed the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) after the meeting,” the senior official said on condition of anonymity.
The meeting, expected to be attended by top BCCI brass, including President Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah, would address concerns of varied stakeholders.
The tenures of both Ganguly and Shah are over but the 2 have sought a relaxation within the Lodha Committee-recommended cooling off norms from the Supreme Court, which can hear the matter on August 17.
Also, presumably , this edition of the IPL would have less number of double-headers which might be beneficial for broadcasters.
Ways to negate the loss of gate money for the franchises, since the matches are going to be played before empty stadiums during a bio-secure environment, also will be a serious topic of dialogue .
While it’s expected that the majority of the franchises will send their recce teams to the UAE to see out the facilities also because the bio-secure environment which will be created, there are concerns that remain, including accommodation plan and catering services.
Another tricky issue that’s likely to return up is whether or not families of the players would be allowed to accompany them.
A senior franchise official had told PTI said that it’ll be “criminal” to stay players faraway from their families for 2 months which too during a sanitised environment.
“During normal times, the wives and girlfriends, join the players during a specified period but this is often a totally different scenario. If families travel, can they be confined to rooms without having the ability to maneuver around normally?” a politician asked.
“There are going to be players who have kids aged between 3 to five and the way does one keep them during a room for 2 months?” he added.