Cric Tracker : Sep 06, 2020, 05:19 PM
Cricket Desk: The much-awaited 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is finally going ahead. The BCCI confirmed earlier this year that the tournament will commence on September 19 and will go on until November 10. Even after all the confirmation, the schedule was yet to be released and alas, the apex board in India has managed to finalised it. with the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) facing the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the opening game in Abu Dhabi.The reason for the delay in schedule was reportedly the different travel restrictions due to COVID-19 in Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Contrary to the BCCI’s plan of organising only six double-headers, this schedule has as many as 10 afternoon games to give time to the teams to travel with the matches set to take place in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi in three different legs.Also, as reported earlier, the afternoon matches are set to begin at 3:30 PM IST while the evening games will commence on 7:30 PM IST. A total of 24 matches will take place in Dubai, while Abu Dhabi and Sharjah will host 20 and 12 games respectively.League matches to end on November 4As far as the schedule is concerned, the 56 league matches will go on until November 3 after which the top four teams will qualify for the playoffs. The first qualifier, eliminator and second qualifier schedule and venues will be announced later. For the first time in the history of the IPL, the final will be played on a weekday. This decision was taken to utilise the Diwali week and it remains to be seen if it reaps rewards.After reaching the UAE, apart from the different travel restrictions, the BCCI also had to deal with 13 COVID-19 cases in the CSK camp which had also put their participation in the opening game in doubt. But the team has recovered from the blow with the rest of the squad testing negative and even the COVID contracted members will join once their quarantine period ends and they test negative twice for Coronavirus.The BCCI, having released the schedule after long deliberation, will be hoping that no player tests positive for the virus now and the bio-bubble remains secure.
| Date | Day | Match | Time (IST) | Venue |
| September 19 | Saturday | MI vs CSK | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| September 20 | Sunday | DC vs KXIP | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| September 21 | Monday | SRH vs RCB | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| September 22 | Tuesday | RR vs CSK | 7:30 PM | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah |
| September 23 | Wednesday | KKR vs MI | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| September 24 | Thursday | KXIP vs RCB | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| September 25 | Friday | CSK vs DC | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| September 26 | Saturday | KKR vs SRH | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| September 27 | Sunday | RR vs KXIP | 7:30 PM | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah |
| September 28 | Monday | RCB vs MI | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| September 29 | Tuesday | DC vs SRH | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| September 30 | Wednesday | RR vs KKR | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| October 1 | Thursday | KXIP vs MI | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| October 2 | Friday | CSK vs SRH | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| October 3 | Saturday | RCB vs RR | 3:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| DC vs KKR | 7:30 PM | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah | ||
| October 4 | Sunday | MI vs SRH | 3:30 PM | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah |
| KXIP vs CSK | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai | ||
| October 5 | Monday | RCB vs DC | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| October 6 | Tuesday | MI vs RR | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| October 7 | Wednesday | KKR vs CSK | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| October 8 | Thursday | SRH vs KXIP | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| October 9 | Friday | RR vs DC | 7:30 PM | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah |
| October 10 | Saturday | KXIP vs KKR | 3:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| CSK vs RCB | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai | ||
| October 11 | Sunday | SRH vs RR | 3:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| MI vs DC | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi | ||
| October 12 | Monday | RCB vs KKR | 7:30 PM | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah |
| October 13 | Tuesday | SRH vs CSK | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| October 14 | Wednesday | DC vs RR | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| October 15 | Thursday | RCB vs KXIP | 7:30 PM | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah |
| October 16 | Friday | MI vs KKR | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| October 17 | Saturday | RR vs RCB | 3:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| DC vs CSK | 7:30 PM | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah | ||
| October 18 | Sunday | SRH vs KKR | 3:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| MI vs KXIP | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai | ||
| October 19 | Monday | CSK vs RR | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| October 20 | Tuesday | KXIP vs DC | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| October 21 | Wednesday | KKR vs RCB | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| October 22 | Thursday | RR vs SRH | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| October 23 | Friday | CSK vs MI | 7:30 PM | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah |
| October 24 | Saturday | KKR vs DC | 3:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| KXIP vs SRH | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai | ||
| October 25 | Sunday | RCB vs CSK | 3:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| RR vs MI | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi | ||
| October 26 | Monday | KKR vs KXIP | 7:30 PM | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah |
| October 27 | Tuesday | SRH vs DC | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| October 28 | Wednesday | MI vs RCB | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| October 29 | Thursday | CSK vs KKR | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| October 30 | Friday | KXIP vs RR | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| October 31 | Saturday | DC vs MI | 3:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai |
| RCB vs SRH | 7:30 PM | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah | ||
| November 1 | Sunday | CSK vs KXIP | 3:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| KKR vs RR | 7:30 PM | Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai | ||
| November 2 | Monday | DC vs RCB | 7:30 PM | Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| November 3 | Tuesday | SRH vs MI | 7:30 PM | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah |