A BCCI delegation led by secretary Jay Shah reached Dubai on Monday morning to conduct a recce of the arrangements before the IPL resumes in the UAE in mid-September. Board president Sourav Ganguly is expected to join them on Wednesday.
Those accompanying Shah include BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal, joint secretary Jayesh George, vice-president Rajeev Shukla, interim CEO Hemang Amin and Dhiraj Malhotra, general manager (operations) and tournament director for T20 World Cup.
The delegation will look into the nitty-gritty of holding the remaining 31 matches at three venues — Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
Vaccination for all those involved and spectators’ entry into stadiums will also be discussed. The BCCI, it is learnt, is keen to finalise the fixtures as early as possible.
England players are likely to miss the tournament while Cricket Australia has so far remained non-committal, stressing that the priorities were to reunite the players who came out of quarantine on Monday with their families, and prepare for the upcoming West Indies tour.
Sourav and Shah will represent BCCI at the ICC board meeting on Tuesday. As decided at the SGM, the BCCI will seek a month’s time before deciding on India as hosts of the T20 World Cup. The Future Tours Programme for the next cycle, 2023-31, will also be finalised.
