IPL Offers Indian Cricket Fans Their First Taste of Cricket in Months

Published on: Aug 25, 2020

Regardless of the sport you follow, the past few months have been a really tough time for fans. We have seen events cancelled all over the world, and almost all of those that have been played since Covid-19 have been played behind closed doors with no fans

Cricket came to an end worldwide, and we have just seen the start of things coming back to life. The West Indies toured England for what were the first games to take place, since then we have seen England take on Ireland, and now Pakistan are currently touring England. Elsewhere, the CPL is currently underway in the West Indies, the first T20 league to return.

So far, nothing has involved India but that is all set to change.

The IPL is back, looking very different compared to how it normally does, and in September, the premier T20 competition in the world will take place. This will give the cricket fans of India something to watch and while that will all be done from home, it is better than the current situation of no cricket.

When Will the IPL Take Place?

The IPL will begin on Saturday September 19 while the final will take place on Sunday November 8. This puts the tournament months later than when it normally takes place, but these dates were the only ones available to use. The options were to play now or miss the entire 2020 tournament, something that no one wanted to see.

What Will the IPL Look Like?

The simple answer to this is that it will look very different to what we are used to seeing. First of all, the games will all take place in the UAE. Organisers wanted the 2020 IPL to take place, but couldn’t guarantee the safety of those taking part in India, so the tournament has been moved to the UAE where the Covid-19 pandemic is seemingly under control

Players will be living in a biosecure bubble and not having any interaction with anyone on the outside of that bubble for the duration of the tournament. This is something we have seen in England when they have been playing games against the West Indies and Pakistan, and it is something that seems to be working well at the moment

From a fans perspective, something that has changed and may be for the better is the schedule we have in place. This year’s IPL is slightly shorter than normal, so that means we have 10 double headers to look forward to

These will provide a day of cricket for those watching, with a game taking place in the afternoon followed by the regular evening game that takes place

No fans will be allowed to enter the stadiums, this will provide a different type of atmosphere for the players to deal with and it will be interesting to see what happens here and how it affects the games.

Can This Lead to Indian International Matches?

The Indian national team have been quiet regarding playing games themselves and it is going to be interesting to see what happens after the IPL has taken place. Will the players say they liked the setup and be happy to do something similar again to play a test series against another team?

One of the biggest questions surrounding this is whether cricket is able to take place in India at any point during 2020. The IPL moved to the UAE because organisers felt that was a safer place to host it, both in terms of the number of infections there and how easy it was to set up a biosecure bubble in the country.

Fans will be desperate to see the national team take to the field sometime soon, it has been a long time since we have seen them. It is not just in India too, fans from all over the world love watching them play cricket, whether this be to enjoy the action, bet on the games taking place or a combination of both. Anytime the Indian national team play, you can expect to find betting odds on the betfromindia.com cricket page.

The international schedule for 2020 has changed dramatically, and don’t be surprised to see the 2021 schedule change a lot too. If the IPL is a success this year and the players like what happens and feel safe, that could be enough to put pressure on the BCCI to schedule some Indian national team matches soon, either at home or somewhere else if that is needed.