2020 Indian Premier League


The 2020 Indian Premier League, also known as IPL 13 and officially known as Vivo IPL, is scheduled to be the thirteenth season of the IPL, a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2007.
The tournament was originally scheduled to commence on 29 March 2020, but was suspended until 15 April due to the global coronavirus pandemic. After Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on 14 April that the lockdown in India would last until at least 3 May 2020, the BCCI suspended the tournament indefinitely. On 24 July 2020, it was confirmed that the tournament would be played between 19 September and 8 November 2020 in the United Arab Emirates.

Background

The BCCI released the fixture details on 18 February 2020. The league stage was scheduled to start on 29 March 2020, with the opening match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, the finalists of the previous season, at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. However, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced on 12 March that IPL matches can be held in the state only if they are played in empty stadiums. Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia declared that no IPL matches will be held in Delhi.
On 13 March, the BCCI suspended the tournament until 15 April, in view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The decision regarding the postponement was reached by the Governing Council after a meeting with the owners of all eight franchise teams. On 9 April, with India under a nationwide lockdown, a BCCI official told CNBC TV18 that the Board was considering hosting the tournament in July or during the winter, possibly behind closed doors. On 14 April 2020, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the lockdown in India would last until at least 3 May 2020, with the tournament postponed further. The following day, the BCCI suspended the tournament indefinitely due to the pandemic.
On 17 April 2020, Sri Lanka Cricket offered to host the tournament. On 17 May 2020, the Indian government relaxed nation-wide restrictions on sports events, allowing events to take place behind closed doors. On 24 May, Indian sports minister Kiren Rijiju stated that the decision on whether or not to allow the tournament to be conducted in 2020 will be made by the Indian government based on "the situation of the pandemic". News reports on 17 July suggested that the BCCI was considering hosting the tournament in the United Arab Emirates between the tentative dates of 26 September and 7 November.
After the International Cricket Council postponed the 2020 edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, the BCCI sought Government of India's permission to move the tournament to the UAE. On 24 July 2020, IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel said that the tournament would be played in the UAE between 19 September and 10 November, should it get the nod from Government of India. The official announcement is yet to be made by the BCCI. Patel added that the decision to allow spectators at the three venues–Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah–will be taken by the Government of the United Arab Emirates.

Personnel changes

's captain Ravichandran Ashwin was transferred to Delhi Capitals in November 2019. Ajinkya Rahane, Trent Boult and Mayank Markande got salary raises during pre-auction trades. The released players were announced on 15 November 2019. Robin Uthappa, Yuvraj Singh and Chris Lynn were the most prominent names among the released players. Jaydev Unadkat, the costliest Indian player in 2019 auction, was also released. There were 12 transfers between teams during the 2020 transfer window.
The players auction for the 2020 season was held on 19 December 2019 in Kolkata. Pat Cummins was the most expensive player, purchased by the Kolkata Knight Riders for. The most expensive Indian player sold was Piyush Chawla for to Chennai Super Kings.