IPL will be finished in UAE in September and October

The Indian Premier League, suspended as a new coronavirus wave hit India, will be finished in the United Arab Emirates in September and October, India’s national cricket board said.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India also said it will ask the global governing body for more time to make a decision on whether the Twenty20 World Cup should be held in India in October and November, AFP reported,

The IPL was half finished when it was halted on May 4 after a number of players and team officials caught coronavirus despite being in bio-secure bubbles, AFP reported.

The board has since been in tough negotiations with other countries and the International Cricket Council on when to squeeze the remaining matches into the crowded international calendar.

The BCCI said it was moving the remaining matches to the UAE because of the monsoon season and did not mention the pandemic.

The board said a special general meeting had “unanimously agreed” for the remaining matches to be held in the UAE “considering the monsoon season in India in the months of September-October this year.”

The World Cup is due to be held in India from October but it is also at risk from the pandemic threat.

The BCCI said the general meeting authorized its leaders “to seek an extension of time from the ICC to take an appropriate call on the hosting of ICC T20 World Cup 2021.”

The tournament is due to be discussed by the ICC next Tuesday, though no decision is expected to be taken.