IPL 2020: Sourav Ganguly takes ‘first flight in 6 months’ for Dubai to oversee preparations

New Delhi: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday left for UAE to oversee the IPL preparations. Ganguly took to Instagram and posted “My first flight in 6 months to Dubai for IPL…crazy life changes” with two photographs.

In the first picture, Ganguly was seen wearing a mask and face shield, part of the Standard Operating Procedure while flying amid the pandemic and in the second, was seen inside sitting inside the aircraft.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CE5nDhGgtWo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The BCCI was able to create a window for the IPL following the postponement of the T20 World Cup in Australia, scheduled for October-November.  The Board would have faced a revenue loss of Rs 4000 crore if the tournament, which usually takes place in April-May, had not got the go ahead.

Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings will be locking horns in the opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 on September 19.

Dubai will play host to 24 games, 20 matches will be hosted by Abu Dhabi while Sharjah will hold 12 games. The IPL 2020 will be played from September 19-November 10 in the UAE across three venues –Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah.

IPL chairman Brijesh Patel is among the other key officials who are already in Dubai. The tournament, despite its strict health safety measures, has already endured instances of contingent members testing positive for the dreaded virus.

Earlier, it came to light that two Chennai Super Kings players along with 11 support staff members had tested positive for coronavirus and that led to the BCCI issuing a statement that strict protocols were being followed and there was no reason to worry.

“13 personnel have tested positive of which 2 are players. All the affected personnel as well as their close contacts are asymptomatic and have been isolated from other team members. They are being monitored by the IPL Medical Team,” the BCCI had said in an official release.