IPL 2020 Underway In The UAE

The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament is underway. In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the games have been shifted to the UAE. Among the three venues there, the most number of matches (24) will be played in Dubai. You can catch up the action on Star Sports – the official broadcaster, and Disney Hotstar – the official Digital Streaming partner of the tournament.

IPL Teams and Players
There have been a few times in the past when up to 10 teams participated in the same tournament. In this season, the eight participating cricket teams are: DC (Delhi Capitals), MI (Mumbai Indians), RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore), KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders), KXIP (Kings Eleven Punjab), RR (Rajasthan Royals), SRH (Sunrisers Hyderabad) and CSK (Chennai Super Kings).

The players are bought by the franchises in an auction. The teams are named after the names of popular cities and states of India.

Schedule
The IPL tournament will be conducted from 19th September, 2020 to 10th November, 2020. The first game was played between the two most popular teams – Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. The match was won by the latter batting second.

The league matches will conclude on November 3rd, 2020, and then the top four teams will compete for the title.

The semis and the final
After the league matches, the top two cricket teams will play against each other and the winner will make it to the final. However, the loser will get another chance to make it to the final if they can defeat the winner of the game between the 3rd and the 4th position teams.

The favorites
Currently, Delhi Capitals are leading the IPL tally with Mumbai Indians closely following them. The latter has a better Net Run Rate than any of the participating team.

In the past, Chennai Super Kings made it to the finals eight times but won the tile only thrice. Their performance is surpassed only by the Mumbai Indians who have won the title four times.