The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to release a detailed itinerary for the remaining portion of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 on Monday (June 28). As many as 29 games are to be rescheduled during a short September-October window across venues in UAE.
As per a report by Sports Tiger, the Indian board is all set to confirm the dates and venues for the remaining matches of the IPL 2021 after the tournament had to be suspended midway in early May.
The UAE leg of the tournament is expected to be played between September 19 and October 15, including 25 league games plus the two qualifiers, the eliminator and the finale.
The dates of the matches will be confirmed with the BCCI announcement, but the report in the Sports Tiger stated that the Indian board:
Trying their best to ensure as less double-headers as possible to avoid afternoon games in the hot UAE weather at that time.
As per the original itinerary, there were three double headers remaining. Initially it was thought that the BCCI would expand the number of two-match days to finish the tournament in the small window it has found. However, it seems the testing weather conditions in the Middle East would force a tweak in those plans.
The IPL 2021 came to an abrupt halt on May 4 after news of multiple COVID-19 positive cases inside different teams’ bubbles did the round. The tournament went through unscathed in Chennai and Mumbai but didn’t prove immune from the pandemic when played in Delhi and Ahmedabad.
At the time, the BCCI’s immediate concern was to send all the players back home despite logistical hurdles. Once that exercise was complete, the board announced it will reschedule the event in September-October – just after India’s Test tour of the UK and just prior to the T20 World Cup, also likely to be held in UAE.
