Brijesh Patel, the Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council chairman, confirmed on Tuesday that the 13th edition of the IPL is shifting to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The BCCI has requested for approval from the government to conduct the same.

According to a report by a news agency, the BCCI is set to allow the following:

1) An early start to evening matches, possibly slated to begin at 7.30 pm IST.

2) Advancing IPL by a week and beginning the tournament on September 19 instead of 26.

3) A possible three-match white ball series versus South Africa in UAE.

4) Combination of B+C - provided there is consensus within the BCCI.

Confirming the news, Brijesh Patel reportedly stated, "It will be held in the UAE but first the board will seek permission from the Indian government to stage it there. The dates have not been finalised as yet and will be decided at the (next) IPL GC, which will be held in the next seven or ten days." The Indian Premier League, which was originally scheduled to begin on March 29, was initially postponed to mid-April following the global concern over the coronavirus pandemic. The BCCI then announced the official suspension of the tournament until further notice.

Claiming that the preparations of the tournament are underway, Dubai Sports City's Head of Cricket and Events, Salman Hanif, had earlier stated, "The stadium has nine wickets on the top in case a large number of matches have to be accommodated within a smaller time-frame. We will not be scheduling any matches there to keep the wickets fresh. The practice facilities are never going to be a problem as we have hosted multi-team events before. In the ICC complex alone, there are 38 wickets - spread over the two Oval grounds, the simulated turf wickets as well as the state-of-the-art indoor facilities in case they want to beat the heat."