During the BCCI Apex Council Meeting on July 18 via video conferencing, the training camp for the contracted players also came up for discussion.
Dharamsala and Ahmedabad were discussed as two options where a bio-bubble can be created but then Dharamsala was ruled out because of lack of accommodation.
The world’s biggest cricket stadium at Motera in Ahmedabad has quality accommodation inside its premises where players can stay. With plenty of accommodation, available players can be individually quantised if need.
“If the IPL is held in the UAE, then it only makes sense the Indian cricketers train there before the tournament. They have a good infrastructure in place. UAE is the most likely choice for the IPL with India getting increasingly unsafe (due to COVID-19),” a BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“The other likely options are training camp in either Dharamsala or Ahmedabad (at the renovated Motera Stadium) with a bio-bubble in place. But the cases continue to increase in India, so UAE will be the safest option,” the official added.
In the Apex meeting, BCCI also discussed moving IPL 2020 out of India. Also if IPL is moved to UAE, there is a possibility that BCCI can plan to hold 6-week training camp in UAE ahead of IPL 2020.
“The practice facilities are never be going to be a problem as we have hosted multi-team events before. In the ICC complex alone, there are 38 wickets – spread over the two Oval grounds, the simulated turf wickets as well as the state-of-the-art indoor facilities in case they want to beat the heat,“ Salman Hanif, Head of Cricket & Events of Dubai Sports City earlier said in a statement.
