File image of MS Dhoni
The Chairman of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Brijesh Patel, on Friday confirmed that the long-anticipated 13th season of the cash-rich league will commence on September 19 onwards in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the final slated to be played on November 8.
Following the announcement, cricket fans of the nation have gone berserk as they finally have something to cheer for, but followers of the league are happier about the return of MS Dhoni than about the league.
Badminton star Kidambi Srikanth led the bandwagon of Dhoni's fans as he tweeted "Great to know #IPL2020 is happening. I'm excited and looking forward to see @msdhoni play again!"
Here's how fans reacted on the return of IPL 2020...
The IPL Governing Council is scheduled to meet next week to finalise the details and approve the schedule, it is understood that the BCCI has informally intimated the franchises about the plan.
"The GC will meet shortly but we have finalised the schedule. It will run from September 19 to November 8. We expect government approval to come through. It is a full 51-day IPL," Patel confirmed the development after PTI reported the dates on Thursday.
The IPL has been made possible by the ICC's decision to postpone the October-November T20 World Cup in Australia owing to the COVID-19 pandemic due to which the host country expressed its inability to conduct the event.
Patel added that BCCI will write to the Emirates Cricket Board about the Standard Operating Procedure to combat the COVID-19 threat.
"We are making the SOP and it will be ready in a few days. To allow crowd or not depends on the UAE government. Anyway, social distancing has to be maintained. We have left it for their government to decide on that. Will also be writing to the UAE board formally," Patel said.
