BCCI Shortlists Three Venues For Team India's Training Camp
Published - 18 Jul 2020, 02:51 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:31 AM
The BCCI has shortlisted three venues as training camps for its contracted players. Team India is one of the most affected teams due to the coronavirus pandemic as the players are yet to start full fledged training since they returned to their homes in March after the home ODI series against South Africa was postponed.
International cricket returned last week when England and West Indies played the first Test in Southampton. Pakistan are also in England and have started their preparations for the Test and T20I series. The likes of Australia and Sri Lanka have returned to training too.
Team India players, however, are yet to resume their training. In fact, there is still no confirmation over when will they eventually return to training. But it looks like the days are numbered now. The United Arab Emirates has emerged as the top contender to host India’s training camp along with Ahmedabad and Dharamsala. The BCCI discussed about the venues at the Apex Council meeting on Friday.
With India’s COVID-19 case load exceeding a million mark, UAE is also favourite to host this edition of IPL which is likely to be held between end September and mid-November. Indian cricketers could well resume their training in Dubai, the likelihood of which will increase significantly if the UAE gets to host the IPL.
“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.
“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.
