Reports | Indian cricketers to train in IPL’s most-likely venue UAE

Lockdown in India has been lifted in many parts, with cricketers slowly returning back to their training grounds preparing themselves for the upcoming cricketing action. However, the Indian cricketers have been training individually, with no date or venue for the BCCI organised camp until now. Reports from PTI suggested that the BCCI is looking at the United Arab Emirates as an option to host the camp for cricketers returning to action. 

Whilst the most obvious reason for having it abroad is the cases of COVID-19 in the country but more evidently, the report claimed that the next edition of the IPL could also be hosted in the Middle-east. This would be the second time that the cash-rich tournament would travel its presence to UAE after a 14-day IPL action in 2014 last time around, owing to the Indian general elections. 

"If the IPL is held in the UAE, then it only makes sense the Indian cricketers train there before the tournament. They have a good infrastructure in place. UAE is the most likely choice for the IPL with India getting increasingly unsafe (due to COVID-19)," a BCCI official told PTI on conditions of anonymity, reported TOI. 

However, in the worst-case scenario, the BCCI official who has been reported by PTI added that the Indian options for training camp at the moment are either Dharamsala or Ahmedabad with a bio-secure bubble. Additionally, the insecurity over the COVID-19 situation in the country could lead to BCCI hosting the tournament and the camp in UAE, according to the official. 

"The other likely options are training camp in either Dharamsala or Ahmedabad (at the renovated Motera stadium) with a bio-bubble in place. But the cases continue to increase in India, so UAE will be the safest option," the official added.