The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) confirmed on Saturday that UAE will be hosting the remaining 31 matches of the Indian Premier League 2021. The development comes after BCCI’s Special General Meeting took place regarding the situation. After the meeting, BCCI VP Rajiv Shukla confirmed the news. After IPL was postponed indefinitely, fans and cricket pundits had wagered their bets on UAE hosting the tournament as the tournament was held successfully in 2020 in UAE as well.
Background
Earlier on May 4, IPL 2021 was postponed indefinitely due to multiple players from the franchise along with certain support staff members contracting the deadly COVID-19 virus. The situation worsened when the entire Australian side of cricketers had to stay put in Maldives as the Australian government had banned the entries of anyone coming from India to Australia, including Australian citizens.
NEWS 🚨 : BCCI to conduct remaining matches of VIVO IPL in UAE.
More details here – https://t.co/r7TSIKLUdM #VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/q3hKsw0lkb
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 29, 2021
Also Read: WTC Final: What if India & New Zealand draw the final? Here’s what the new rule says
Details
On Saturday, the BCCI issued a statement which said-
“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday announced to complete the remaining matches of VIVO Indian Premier League 2021 season in the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) considering the monsoon season in India in the months of September-October this year.”
The statement further read-
“The decision was taken at a Special General Meeting (SGM) held virtually, where members unanimously agreed to resume IPL.”
It should be noted that the BCCI has not announced the schedule for the remainder of the matches as it would need to take into consideration the already slated matches international teams have committed on.
BCCI asks for more time from ICC with regards to T20 World Cup
Another update from BCCI came in the form of it seeking some more time from the International Cricket Council as it wants to explore more possibilities as to how it can host the upcoming T20 World Cup that India is likely to host. It should be noted that UAE is the backup option kept by BCCI to hold the International T20 Tournament, if the COVID-19 situation in India does not subside.
“The BCCI SGM further authorised the Office Bearers to seek an extension of time from the ICC to take an appropriate call on the hosting of ICC T20 World Cup 2021,”
-the BCCI statement read.
UAE Happy to Host Remainder of IPL Tournament
According to sources quoted by ANI,
“There have been talks with the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) and they are happy to host the remaining IPL in Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi like last time. The BCCI will now speak to the foreign boards to decide on the availability of the foreign players. While the Australian players may be available, there are some questions over the availability of the England and New Zealand players, we will see how that works out.”
IPL 2021: The Points Table So Far:
| Teams | Played | Won | Lost | Pts | NRR |
| DC | 8 | 6 | 2 | 12 | +0.547 |
| CSK | 7 | 5 | 2 | 10 | +1.263 |
| RCB | 7 | 5 | 2 | 10 | -0.171 |
| MI | 7 | 4 | 3 | 8 | +0.062 |
| RR | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 | -0.190 |
| PBKS | 8 | 3 | 5 | 6 | -0.368 |
| KKR | 7 | 2 | 5 | 4 | -0.494 |
IPL 2021: 5 Best Indian IPL Players till the Halfway Stage
Shikhar Dhawan, Delhi Capitals
The veteran opener from the Indian squad was having a monumental IPL season this year. He was the orange cap holder, scoring the most amount of runs and has been agile as a deer on the boundary lines. In his 8 innings, Dhawan has scored 380 runs with an average of 54.29. What’s even more commendable is that he has not let his strike rate go down and its currently at 134.27.
Prithvi Shaw, Delhi Capitals
The youngling is currently in his best cricketing form. After becoming the leading scorer at the Vijay Hazare tournament, the former captain of the Under-19 team continued his form and scored runs left and right. In his 8 innings, Shaw has scored 308 runs and has a strike rate of 166.48.
K.L. Rahul, Punjab Kings
K.L Rahul was one of the first few players that had to miss the tournament after contracting the COVID-19 virus. But before the virus got to him, Rahul was able to play 7 games in which he amassed 331 runs with an average of 66.20.
Sanju Samson, Rajasthan Royals
The calm storm from Kerala was made the captain of the Rajasthan Royals franchise in 2021. After donning the captain’s cap, Samson led his team by example and amassed 277 runs in 7 innings with an average of 46.17.
Rishabh Pant, Delhi Capitals
Often loved by commentators for his theatrics and whips on the field, Pant was handed the captain’s cap for Delhi Capitals. The wicket-keeper batsman had a decent run with the bat, scoring 213 runs in 8 innings. More importantly, he led his team to victory 6 times in the 8 encounters so far.
Also read: BCCI: IPL 2021 Postponed Indefinitely after Several Players Testing Positive for COVID-19
