IPL 2020- New Rules
The Indian Premier League is a professional Twenty-20 cricket league in India contested during March or April every year by eight teams representing eight different cities or states in India. These teams compete against each other until one team eventually emerges victorious.
However, due to the current pandemic situation, IPL 2020 is being held in September this year. UAE was chosen as the tournament destination since all the stadiums are within 100 kms so the respective teams can travel easily without frequent change in hotels. After roller-coaster rounds of uncertainty and promise, the players and committee are all padded up for IPL 2020, which kicked off in Abu Dhabi at 7:30 pm IST on Saturday, 19th September 2020.
In order to provide the public with the highest level of entertainment right from the comfort of their homes, The Governing Council has implemented some novel changes for the current season of the Indian Premier League.
For the first time, fans will be cheering up for their teams without actually being there in the stadium. With the rising cases of Covid-19 and to maintain the norms of social distancing, the IPL 2020 will be played without the presence of fans in the stadium.
The new rules stated that all Indian players and support staff will have to return negative for COVID-19 at least five times before they start training in the UAE and subsequently will be tested every fifth day during the IPL. All Indian players and support staff had to undergo two COVID-19 RT-PCR tests, 24 hours apart, a week before joining the 14-day quarantine period with their respective teams in India. Following their arrival in the UAE, the players and support staff had to return at least three negative tests during a week’s quarantine and only after testing negative, were they allowed to enter the bio-bubble and start training.
Players were not even allowed to meet teammates immediately upon arrival in the UAE. Players could interact with each other only after returning 3 negative Covid-19 PCR tests upon arrival in the UAE.
All franchises have been asked to appoint a team doctor who will be responsible for ensuring bio-secure guidelines during the entire tenure of the tournament. The franchise medical team was asked to obtain a complete medical and travel history of all players and team support staff at least two weeks before the scheduled departure to UAE.
The on-field rules of the tournament include the ban on the use of saliva to shine the ball and allowing home umpires in international series. It was also decided to allow teams to have a replacement for players showing Covid-19 symptoms in Test matches. IPL 2020 will see an extra umpire calling for no-balls to make sure on-field umpires don’t err with respect to the same.
The highlight among the new rules is that there will be a provision for a concussion substitute in the 2020 season. The final call will be with the match referee who decides if the replacement player is a like-for-like replacement of the injured player or not.
All players and officials are compelled to follow Social Distancing. Regular testing is carried out to prevent and reduce the risk of asymptomatic spread of the novel coronavirus and is going to be a permanent feature throughout IPL 2020.
All safety measures in the Bio-Bubble are being ensured by taking utmost precautions. The Eight teams are camping in different hotels in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and travel every day for practice.
But even after all the ups and downs in the organization of the nation loved tournament, It is for sure that in a cricket crazy nation like India, IPL will always gain the love and support from its fans, be it physically or virtually, in normal time, or during a pandemic, with the help of live streaming. The twenty-20 format may soon surpass the craze for One-Day International format, but either way, the love for the game will forever remain firm.
-Abigail Gretel Soares