BCCI will seek clearances from the government for the IPL to be played in the UAE: Brijesh Patel

After days and months of rumours and speculations, on 20th July, the International Cricket Council made their final call regarding the conduct of the T20 World Cup which was scheduled to be played in Australia later this year. Citing the reason of the COVID-19 pandemic, without deferring any further hearings, the global cricket board announced the postponement of the T20 World Cup.

The path is now clear for the BCCI to host its flagship tournament in the window provided by the ICC after they announced that T20 Mega Event has been postponed. 

According to the latest reports, the franchises have started preparing for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League. All the aspects such as travel, logistics, accommodation and training camps are now being arranged by the franchises.

IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel said that the Board is currently working to secure permission from the Government of India for IPL to move abroad. 

"Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks (BCCI) will seek clearances from the government for the tournament (IPL) to be played in the UAE," IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel told India Today.

The former Indian batsman further added that the UAE Government has a vested interest in hosting this year’s IPL tournament. It is not the first time that the cash-rich tournament will be played in the UAE. Back in 2014, when the Indian general election was being held, the UAE government offered to host the first half of the tournament.

"The UAE government offered us to host the IPL in their country and we are very much aware of the facilities and situation there. The IPL (first leg) was played there (UAE) in 2014 so we know what we are looking at", the IPL Chairman added.

The BCCI are looking at the September 26 - November 8 window to host the IPL. As of now, everything is going as expected from the perspective of the BCCI and the IPL Governing Council will be meeting in a week's time to decide what needs to be done next. 

"Within a week the IPL governing council meeting will be held where the next plan of action is to be discussed," said another BCCI official, who is part of the IPL Governing Council.