UAE to host 20 IPL games in first phase

 

The first phase of the IPL will have 20 matches in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai from April 16-30, the organisers have announced. The opening match of IPL 2014 will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on April 16 between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders.

It is understood the tournament launch will take place on April 15 in Abu Dhabi. According to the schedule released by the IPL, five of the 15 days of the first phase will be double-headers that will be played over the weekends. The first match will start at 2.30pm local time (1030 GMT, 1600 IST) and the evening game at 6.30pm (1430 GMT, 2000 IST).

The schedule was chalked out to allow each of the eight franchises to play at least once in all three cities, and also feature in at least one of the double-header weekends. Abu Dhabi and Dubai will host seven matches each while six games will be played in Sharjah.

The IPL was moved to an alternative venue after its schedule coincided with the Indian elections, slated to be held between April 17 and May 12, giving rise to security issues. While the primary objective of the IPL was to host the most number of matches in India, the Indian home ministry made it clear it would not be possible to provide the required security for the tournament during the elections.

However, a BCCI statement said that state administrations had responded to an initiative by the federal government and indicated their willingness to hold matches. This, the BCCI said, led it to believe that the IPL could be staged in India from the first week of May.

There were concerns about Sharjah as a venue, given its associations with match-fixing in the past, but assurances from the UAE government and cricket officials in the country were adequate for the BCCI to believe that the tournament could be conducted in a corruption-free manner.

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Yuvraj centre of attention in opening T20

Yuvraj Singh is no stranger to attention. On Saturday, when he walks down the pavilion steps at Visakhapatnam (provided he is picked), he can expect the kind of standing ovation and cheers normally reserved for Sachin Tendulkar at grounds all over the world. His faster-than-expected return from germ cell cancer is an inspiration to millions and even if his contributions turn out to be underwhelming, his team-mates will savour his return to the dressing room.

Yuvraj has had no serious match practice, but those who've watched him train remarked that he was hitting the ball as hard as ever. His inclusion in the squad show that the selectors and team management value his presence, even with strings attached. he has just two games before the World Twenty20 later this month to prove that his selection was inspired. The danger, though, is that the hype will overawe the match itself, and India's captain MS Dhoni made a plea not to let Yuvraj's return distract the team.

India will have had played six Twenty20 games this year before leaving for Sri Lanka. New Zealand on the other hand have been the busiest, having already played seven in 2012. While teams look to stack their calendar with matches in a World T20 year, India's previous bilateral series, in Sri Lanka, included just one Twenty20 (following a five-ODI series). India, curiously, have never been involved in a bilateral series featuring more than two games. This series will only be their fifth bilateral series, out of 14, involving two games. Fortunately for India, most of the players picked for this series and the World T20 are regulars in the one-day squad, so they understand each other's game well.

Despite packing their international schedule with Twenty20s, New Zealand have slumped, and are coming off four consecutive defeats, against South Africa and a resurgent West Indies. It didn't help that their most recent games, in Florida, were heavy losses (56 and 61 runs respectively), with injuries hampering their plans. They will be boosted by the return of Daniel Vettori from injury and he will at least be an asset with his containing role, even if he doesn't pick up wickets. Having run India close in the Bangalore Test, they will begin this series feeling more confident. Now with a fitter squad, they will begin their preparation for the World T20 with games against three tough opponents - India, Australia and South Africa (the last two part of the warm-ups in Sri Lanka).

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