IPL 2020 could be well turn out to be great practice for the Indian players, who play in an important series Down Under against the Australians in December. Team India head coach Ravi Shastri feels that IPL is a welcome tournament, that will only help the players get back in the groove.

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Talking to Gulf News, he said, “Here we are talking about not playing cricket for five months, the sport had come to a halt for six years during World War II. Nobody saw it coming, it was a shock to the system which destroyed so many lives and livelihood…what can you do about it!"

“All the Indian players have been out of action for the last five months, while there is no home and away advantage as well. The good thing is they are starting with the T-20 format and not Test matches, which gets over in just over three hours," said Shastri when asked about which IPL team holds the advantage.

“The IPL could not have come at a better time as it would give some match time to Virat Kohli and the boys.” Talking about UAE hosting the IPL, Shastri said, "It offers the UAE a chance to make a big statement if they can pull it off without a hitch.”

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“I had said during the 2014 edition of IPL here that it’s just the right choice if the IPL had to ever move overseas – because of the excellent infrastructure and an overwhelming number of Indian expats here. As things stand out, there are not too many countries in the world now which can safely host international matches in view of the COVID-19 situation.”

“If all goes well, then UAE should be in the running to host any major ICC event as well as bilateral series in future,’’ Shastri added.

• ipl
• ipl 2020
• Ravi Shastri
• virat kohli