After plenty of discussions and obstacles, BCCI has now released the IPL schedule this Sunday, which revealed the info that CSK and MI are about to play in this edition’s inaugural match.
Mumbai Indians is the only team to have a better record against the strong MSD’s team in IPL so far. With the 17-11 record against CSK, the mighty Mumbai franchise is all set to face CSK for the 29th time on September 19th in Abu Dhabi by 7.30 PM IST.
Due to the pandemic situation, the IPL 2020 was forced to dislodge India, and in turn, it has been shifted to UAE, which is known for its hot conditions and slow wickets. As all the teams of IPL have landed nearly a month before the tournament commences, CSK is the only team that had major setbacks because of their 13 members, who were affected by COVID-19.
With all the other teams commenced their practice sessions right after their 14 days isolation, the CSK players had to wait for their extended quarantine period to get over. Eventually, the remaining CSK players who were tested negative have started their practice last Friday, provided the 11 staff members, and 2 players who got tested positive are still quarantined, waiting for further tests.
CSK and its ardent supporters, without Harbhajan Singh and Suresh Raina, looks a little dull at the moment, which can be quickly vanished by their coaching brains once the tournament begins.
Meanwhile, in the mighty blue camp, they are going to miss Lasith Malinga for this edition. But it won’t be earth-shocking stuff to overcome for Mumbai as they contain a very well balanced and internationally experienced side. In addition, it has been more than a week since they have started their practice session. This means they would be much afoot than CSK for the battle on September 19th.
Coming back to the IPL schedule, it has been out with a disclaimer mentioning “Subject to change for any reason.” It will have the changes only when a team or player of a team gets affected by the deadly virus during the course of the tournament.
Yet another thing to note down is the doubleheaders, that too in hot conditions. The players have to prepare themselves for the hottest matches, starting by 2 PM in the venues. A total of 10-afternoon games were planned, and they came later in the tournament.
The venues are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah, each conducting 20,24 and 12 games, respectively. This is only the round-robin games, and it’s been only announced as of now. While the schedule of playoffs will be announced later, as per the conveniences of the teams.
