5 things that could affect this year’s IPL 2020
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while many things are slowly returning to normal, a Test match between England and the West Indies was played at Southampton last month after a long gap. And finally, cricket was being returned on 8 thof July, after a strict lockdown of long 4 months. While the situation has not improved across India, the BCCI has decided that the thirteenth season of the world’s most popular cricket league — the Indian Premier League — will be played in the UAE.
In cricket, the spectators have always been an integral part of the game. They are the 12 then of any home-side. Fans are the most beautiful ingredient to keep the atmosphere constantly energetic. In a format like IPL, the stadium always seems jam-packed and suddenly you’ll see empty stands all around the arena. The skipper of RCB, Virat Kohli said:
“Most of the players in the IPL are used to playing in packed stadiums. So, this all-new scenario will be tough to adapt for players also.”
In the month of September-October, when the monsoon nearly comes to its ends in India, the weather in the UAE is as hot as summer at this particular time of the year. It may break the thermometer bar at 32 ° to 40 ° celsius. In such hot and humid weather, players have to take special care of themselves to be constantly hydrated. The situation is much different in the UAE compare to any other cricket playing nation. Players might easily lose their energy in no time.
The great cricket expert Dean Johns said in an interview, “It could all come down to who plays spin better, as the pitches are going to get tired with so much cricket being played on them, in extremely hot conditions.”
UAE pitches are much slower than Indian pitches. When the first 20 matches of the IPL 2014 were played in the UAE, the average score while batting first was only 151. In an addition, the grounds in Abu Dhabi and Dubai is large. But yes! Sharjah can be a witness of some high scoring encounters, as this ground has relatively small boundaries. In this sandy area, strong winds can also be a crucial factor in these open grounds. Playing shots against the wind often takes too much from the batter, bowlers need to roll their arms with more intensity and fielders can misjudge the catches.
Many matches of the last two seasons of the Pakistan Super League was played on these grounds. But, the pitches here are so slow that, out of the total 114 innings played during these two seasons, the only twice team can cross 200 run’s barrier.
5. Less Travelling, More Recovery Time
One thing that falls in the favor of the players is that they don’t have to travel long this time. Many times in the IPL, teams have to play matches at two different venues in less than 100 hours. In the meanwhile, they have to board on a tiring flight and do not get enough recovery time. But, this time, they do not need to worry. They will just need to travel comfortably between the three main destinations of the UAE ‘by road’, in a luxurious Bus. The maximum duration of road travel between all three cities is as follows.
Thus, players can get enough rest between all the matches this time. They can come fresh in every match with the same intensity.
So, just fasten your seatbelts and get ready for the good cricketing nights! The Indian Premier League is once again all set to serves you, daily guaranteed entertainment. Bring it on!
Originally published at https://www.thelitthings.com.
