IPL 2020 | Franchises to swap hotels for resorts in UAE

With the BCCI SoPs in place ahead of the IPL, teams have been looking at different ways in which they can make the day to day runnings of operation in the UAE easier. One of the biggest changes that the teams are considering is to move the players from hotels to resorts for this edition. According to a report in TOI, Sunrisers Hyderabad have already approached a golf resort to check on its availability while Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders are considering moving to the more secluded Abu Dhabi. 

"It's not easy to screen everyone in the hotel all the time. Here, we are talking about over 60 days. The resorts in Dubai are high end. Arranging single-occupancy rooms will be much easier," a source told TOI. 

One issue, however, that has not been clarified up until now has been the selection of replacements. The BCCI allows replacements to be named by teams should some players in their team become unavailable due to injuries. However, with the SoPs in place, it is not as simple as signing up a player this time and get them on board. While it appears that the BCCI would not cap the number of replacements that can be named, they are looking for the franchises to set in as well. 

"A player can't just fly out of the blue and join the team. You can't cap replacements but they have to be monitored somehow," the report further quoted a BCCI source saying.

"ICC's guidelines resemble the concussion-replacement rule but we are talking about an entire season here. There could be a registered pool of players from which replacements could be picked. Maybe the franchises could come together and agree on the pool. It could be the players who went unsold in the auctions."