ABU DHABI: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) have signed an MoU and hosting agreement to boost cricketing ties between the two countries.
Taking to Twitter, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah wrote, "I along with Vice Chairman of Emirates Cricket Board, Khalid Al Zarooni signed an MoU & Hosting agreement between @BCCI and @EmiratesCricket to boost the cricketing ties between our countries. BCCI President, @SGanguly99 & Treasurer, @ThakurArunS were present on the occasion."
Shah was joined by BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and treasurer Arun Dhumal. The 13th edition of the IPL will kick-off today in the UAE across three venues -- Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah. Dubai will play host to 24 games, 20 matches will be hosted by Abu Dhabi while Sharjah will hold 12 games. The dates and venues for the playoff stages will be released later.
For the first time in the history of the tournament, the finals will be played on a weekday ie Tuesday. Both the afternoon and evening matches will be played half an hour earlier than usual this time around. There will be a total of 10 doubleheaders in this edition of the tournament. The evening matches will be played at 7:30 pm IST while the afternoon matches are due to start at 3:30 pm IST.
Defending champion Mumbai Indians will take on Chennai Super Kings at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi in the tournament opener at 7:30 pm IST.