Last Updated on September 19, 2020 at 4:41 pm
After a long wait, the 13th edition India’s most loved cricket tournament Indian Premier League (IPL) is finally set to kick-off with a bang. The IPL which usually begins with opening ceremony in the month of April and ends in June but this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic the season was called off.
But now after waiting for long it’s finally going to start with a match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. Last year Mumbai Indians lift the trophy after winning from Chennai Super kings with just 1 run. Till now Mumbai Indians have topped the chart of winning the most number of IPL followed by Chennai Super Kings.
This year IPL is going to be held in three venues including Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Dubai. All eight teams are giving a final touch to their preparation for the tournament. The thirteenth edition of IPL is also expected to be the most tightly-contested edition in the history of IPL as all the eight teams are looking equal. Despite the location, India’s most favorite T20 league is ready to put a smile on the fan’s face even in this hard time of the pandemic. The fans are eager to see their favorite teams on the ground.
Earlier IPL 2009 which was also the second edition of the game was hosted in South Africa due to elections in India at that time and was held from 18 April to 24 May. After the Cricket World Cup, it was recorded as the second biggest cricket tournament in the world with a forecast to a television audience of more than two hundred million in India alone.
Even though India didn’t host the 2009 IPL but still the format of the tournament remained the same as the 2008 IPL. The tournament was won by Deccan Chargers by beating Royal Challengers Bangalore in a neck to neck competition.
Then again in 2014, the seventh edition of IPL was held from April 16 to June 1. This season of IPL was held in two countries half of the matches were played in Indian while the other half of the matches were played in the UAE. The opening ceremony of the seventh edition of IPL was held in UAE on 15th April.
The part of the tournament was played outside India because Home Minister Shushil Kumar Shinde denied providing security for the tournament as at the same time India was holding the 2014 general elections. As a result, the tournament was jointly hosted by the two countries. The first twenty matches were played in UAE and then the tournament returned to its hometown India. Kolkata Knight Riders won the tournament after defeating Kings XI Punjab by three wickets.
This year due to the Covid-19 pandemic the fans are allowed to enter the stadium but only virtually. As MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings takes on Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians the fans are allowed to support their teams but through virtual methods only. As per the sources, the BCCI has collaborated with BookMyShow, who has set up systems to virtually book tickets for fans to enter the stadium.
Taking an idea from the European football league and the US-Open the BCCI has decided to set up four fan walls across three stadiums that will create an energetic atmosphere for the players. Only 96 slots have been given to each team for each match to allow their fans at the fan wall. With an expectation of a higher number of fans, there will be a lottery system, and the fans who win the lottery only those fans are allowed to be present at the fan walls.
IPL is not only about the big players but it has also given many young talents from around the world. Similarly, this year also many young players will be playing the IPL. So here are few young talents to watch out ahead the thirteen editions of the Indian Premier League.
The first person in the list is under 19 left-handed batsmen Devdutt Padikkal who will be playing in Royal Challengers Bangalore under the captaincy of India Captain Virat Kholi. Padikkal has topped in the charts of ODI and T20 domestic tournaments in the season 2019-20. Another under 19 superstars who will be under the watch is Ravi Bishnoi who will be playing in KXIP. The third young player to look for this year is Rajasthan Royals Kartik Tyagi. Tyagi made his debut in first-class cricket in 2017 but that remained unseen until Tyagi proved his worth in the under-19 world cup. The fourth and the last player is the 21- year young English batsman Tom Banton who will be playing under the captaincy of Dinesh Karthik in KKR. Banton has played 9 T20s for England and has scored runs with a strike rate of 143.35. He has impressed in BBL too.
The IPL will start from 19 September to November 10. The match will begin at 7:30 pm for evening matches instead of 8 pm and 3.30 pm for noon matches. You can watch IPL live at star sports TV. This year amid India-China’s strained relations the title sponsor of IPL Vivo has taken back its name as title sponsor and Dream 11 have won the bid for that title sponsor of the 13th edition of IPL. Now, the excitement rises to see who will lift this year’s IPL trophy.
