Delhi Capitals
T20 (Twenty Twenty 20 Overs)
19 September-10 November 2020
Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)
Double Round-robin and Playoffs
8
60
SHARJAH CRICKET ASSOCIATION STADIUM, SHARJAH:
Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium was established in 1984. The rapidity with which the stadium acquired popularity and subsequently- one-day matches has astounded many. In a short span of 19 years i.e. till 2003, Sharjah Cricket Association Ground had hosted as many as 198 ODIs. The limited over matches in Sharjah Cricket Association Ground were always a part of a tournament involving not less than three teams. Most of the tournaments in Sharjah Cricket Association Ground organized under The Cricketers Benefit Fund Series, which aims at providing a part of the tournament purse to the retired cricketers from India and Pakistan. Sharjah Cricket Association Ground is one of those rare grounds where a test match has been hosted without the participation of the home team. In the wake of 11 September, Pakistan became the hotbed of internal turmoil, thus its cricket team had choose Sharjah Cricket Association ground for its test series against West Indies and later Australia. Sharjah Cricket Association Ground has a seating capacity of 27,000. Of late, hardly and any cricket of consequence has been played in this ground; the newly opened Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi has appropriated the popularity that Sharjah Cricket Association Ground used to enjoy. It holds a world record of being the first stadium to have hosted 200 ODIs after the match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in November 2011.
Abu Dhabi Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
The 2020 Indian Premier League, also known as IPL 13 and branded as Dream11 Indian Premier League 2020,was the thirteenth season of the IPL, a professional Twenty20 cricket (T20) league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007.The tournament was originally scheduled to commence on 29 March 2020, but was suspended until 15 April due to the global coronavirus pandemic. After Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on 14 April that the lockdown in India would last until at least 3 May 2020, the BCCI suspended the tournament indefinitely. On 2 August 2020, it was announced that the tournament would be played between 19 September and 10 November 2020 in the United Arab Emirates. On 4 August 2020, Vivo pulled out as the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for this year's edition.[5][6] On 18 August, fantasy cricket league platform Dream11 was named the title sponsor with a bid of ₹222 crore (US$31 million) for the tournament. Mumbai Indians were the defending champions,[9] and they successfully defended their title following a 5 wicket win over Delhi Capitals in the final on 10 November 2020.
Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
The Dubai International Cricket Stadium, also formerly known as Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium, is one of the three cricket stadiums which is situated in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Having a capacity of 25,000, this stadium can be called as an adopted home ground for Pakistan. This stadium has a round roof unlike others. This arena witnessed its first ODI game in April 2009 between Pakistan and Australia. Many more matches have been played here including a memorable England's collapse to spin which resulted in a 10-wicket defeat to the hands of Pakistan. It is a well equipped stadium having a unique feature naming its floodlights as "Ring of Fire".
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Indian Premier League's full schedule is still awaited. The 13th season of the IPL is expected to start from September 19, 2020, but there's no clarity on the 60-match tournament which is to be played across UAE. The IPL officials are in conversation with the officials of the Emirates Cricket Board to get this matter solved on priority. On Monday, Indian Premier League officials answered several questions raised by the players during a webinar. The players can not visit each other's room not only during the quarantine period but also before or after the tournament, despite staying in the bio bubble. However, the players can meet at the door of their rooms or in the designated meeting areas and must adhere to the two-metre social distancing requirement. In addition to this, every player will wear a special Bluetooth band having an alarm, in case they break two-metre distance rule. In the team bus, the players will be sitting in a zig-zag manner, to avoid contact with each other. The family members of the players will also be given similar kind of bands. However, there's no update on the functionality of the bands so far.
M Siddharth (left) and R Sai Kishore:
Chennai: Apart from left-arm spinners R Sai Kishore (Chennai Super Kings) and Manimaran Siddharth (Kolkata Knight Riders), every member in the 12-man group has prior IPL experience. However, CSK wicketkeeper-batsman Narayan Jagadeesan and Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Sanjay Yadav are yet to break into the playing eleven.
Senior statesmen such as Murali Vijay (Super Kings), Dinesh Karthik (Knight Riders), Vijay Shankar (Sunrisers) and Ravichandran Ashwin (Delhi Capitals) as well as the quartet of Thangarasu Natarajan (Sunrisers), Varun Chakaravarthy (Knight Riders), Washington Sundar (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Murugan Ashwin (Kings XI Punjab) make up the rest of the IPL-bound Tamil Nadu contingent
Delighted with the representation in the premier T20 competition, Tamil Nadu head coach D Vasu told DT Next: “It is great news and I am happy that 12 players from the state will be a part of IPL. Their participation augurs well for TN cricket. For the next few years, the shorter formats of the game will be taken care of by these guys."
"I think that the players will focus more on T20s in the coming years. The IPL stints will be useful, especially for the youngsters, he added. Moved out of India due to the coronavirus pandemic, IPL 2020 will be hosted across three venues - Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah -in UAE, where the pitches are likely to assist spinners.
Unsurprisingly, Vasu said that the slow bowlers would be the ones to watch out for in the upcoming season, beginning September 19. "I expect the spinners, particularly Sai Kishore and Siddharth, to do well. Varun was out of cricket for months because of a long-term injury. If he is at his best, he will be very effective."
All teams barring defending champion Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals have Tamil Nadu players. While Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad possess three members apiece, Delhi, Punjab and Bangalore own one each. With the exception of 12 players, four coaches from the state will be involved in the league.
Robin Singh (Batting coach - Mumbai), Sridharan Sriram (Batting and spin bowling coach - Bangalore)- Malolan Rangarajan (Head of scouting and fielding coach - Bangalore) and Lakshmipathy Balaji (Bowling coach - Chennai) are key components of their respective franchises. As 16 members and local side Super Kings will participate in the T20 carnival, IPL 2020 will not be short of Tamil Nadu flavour.
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