The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) begins from September 19, with Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings locking horns in the IPL 2020 opener. Earlier, IPL 2020 was scheduled to be played in the April-May window, but it got delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had suspended the IPL due to government-imposed travel restrictions and the refusal of three states to host any IPL matches in the shadow of the pandemic.

 

There will be 10 double headers: The afternoon matches will start at 3:30 pm IST, while the evening matches would start at 7:30 pm IST. The final match of the IPL 2020, being played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is slated for November 8. The IPL has been made possible by the ICC's decision to postpone the October-November T20 World Cup in Australia in view of the host country's inability to conduct the event amid Covid-19.

 

The 60 matches will be played across three venues — Dubai International Stadium, Sheikh Zayed Stadium (Abu Dhabi) and the Sharjah ground — in the UAE.

The IPL players' auction 2020 took place in Kolkata on December 20. Australian pacer Pat Cummins, who went to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for Rs 15.5 crore, was the most expensive buy.

 

In the pecking order of all-time most expensive players in the history of IPL auctions, Cummins is second only to Yuvraj Singh, who had been signed for Rs 16 crore by the Delhi franchise (then Delhi Daredevils) in 2015.

 

A total of 62 players were sold in the IPL 2020 auction from a pool of 332 players who were in race for 73 slots across the eight IPL teams. The total money spent was Rs 140.3 crore. A total of 186 Indian players and 143 overseas players were in the auction pool.

 

Kings XI Punjab bought Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, who was not considered for the upcoming ODI series against India, for Rs 10.75 crore, after an intense bidding war with Delhi Capitals. KXIP had entered the auction with the biggest available purse of Rs 42.70 crore.

 

Besides Cummins and Maxwell, Chris Morris, Sheldon Cottrell, and Nathan Coulter-Nile were picked up for Rs 10 crore (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Rs 8.5 crore (KXIP), and Rs 8 crore (Mumbai Indians), respectively.