IPL 2021: Remaining 31 matches to be held in the UAE starting Sept 18-19; Windies players to join late

The uncertainty is finally over as IPL 2021 is set to resume in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), tentatively on September 18 or 19. The remaining 31 league matches, including the four playoff games, will be conducted over a three-week window, a senior BCCI official confirmed.

After weeks of speculation and discussion, it looks like the cash-rich league will resume just four days after the conclusion of India’s five-Test series against England. The board official revealed that the weekend of September 18-19 will mark the resumption, while the final will be played on the weekend of October 9-10.

“The BCCI has spoken to all the stakeholders and the likely start should be between September 18th to 20th. Since September 18 is a Saturday and 19 a Sunday, it is more likely that you would want to restart it on a weekend date. Similarly, October 9th or 10th will be the final as it’s a weekend,” a person privy to the developments told PTI.

The existing IPL 2021 schedule hasn’t been revamped yet but it is learnt that the 31 games will accommodate 10 double-headers and seven evening games. All knockout matches will start at 7:30 p.m. IST.

“We are finalising the itinerary and there will be 10 double-headers and seven evening matches along with four main [playoff] games, which completes the list of 31 matches,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The 14th edition of the IPL came to a screeching halt on May 4 after rising Covid-19 cases in various team bio-bubbles. Various options and venues were mulled, including the UAE, UK and even Sri Lanka, before the Middle East was nailed down.

UPDATE: The Indian Premier League Governing Council (IPL GC) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in an emergency meeting has unanimously decided to postpone IPL 2021 season with immediate effect.Details - https://t.co/OgYXPj9FQy pic.twitter.com/lYmjBId8gL

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 4, 2021

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West Indies players to join remainder of IPL 2021 late

The Caribbean players generally catch up with each other after every IPL game [Credits: IPL]

The fifth day of the fifth Test between India and England is slated to be held on September 14 in Manchester, following which both the Indian and English contingent will be ferried to the UAE on a charter flight.

The West Indian players, though, will participate in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) which will start on August 28, and will depart for Dubai only after the summit clash on September 19.

“The Indian team and the English players who will be available will fly in the same charter flight from Manchester to Dubai. Similarly, the West Indies players will also fly in after completing the Caribbean Premier League engagements. There will be a three-day quarantine for players arriving from the UK and the Caribbean,” the source concluded.

As of now, Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals (DC) sit pretty on top of the IPL 2021 table with 6 wins from 8 games played. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) occupy the second and third spots respectively – both on 10 points each – while defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) complete the top four.

#TeamIndia's young guns made their way to Mumbai yesterday, the first stop on their journey to England for the #WTCFinal 💙#YehHaiNayiDilli #WTC21 @RishabhPant17 @RealShubmanGill pic.twitter.com/EzK8qrA41R

— Delhi Capitals (Stay Home. Wear Double Masks😷) (@DelhiCapitals) May 20, 2021

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