IPL 2020: Governing Council to mull on squad size, bio-secure bubble among other topics

Bengaluru, July 31: The IPL Governing Council will meet on Sunday (August 2) to give a definite shape to the IPL 2020 preparations and the issue of the squad size will dominate the proceedings.

There will also be discussion on the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for IPL 2020 which is expected to be held in UAE from September 19 to November 8 or 10. A detailed discussion on the schedule too will be made but the Central Government is yet to give its nod for the tournament to be shifted to UAE because of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The BCCI has written to the Union Government seeking permission to shift IPL 2020 to UAE, while they have also written to the UAE Government expressing the desire to stage the tournament in Emirates. The Emirates Cricket Board too has confirmed receiving the letter from the BCCI.

However, the immediate topic of discussion in the Governing Council meeting will be about the number of players allowed to travel with the team. One section believes that the number of players should be limited so that it is to prepare the bio-secure bubble in UAE and the logistics will be easier to handle.

But another section maintains the line of thought that the teams should be allowed to take original squad so that they will not fall short of bowlers in UAE. They believe that it is tough to arrange net bowlers for all the eight teams, and they want the number of non-playing staff to be reduced to accommodate more players.

The Governing Council, headed by Brijesh Patel, will think hard on those aspects and will take opinion of the eight IPL franchises. Though the IPL teams took smaller squad to UAE when the IPL was held in Emirates in 2014 but this time the entire duration of the tournament is being held in the Gulf country and the situation is different.