IPL 2020: 4 ICC Elite Panel umpires to officiate in Indian Premier League

Four umpires from the ICC's Elite Panel are set to officiate in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), starting in the UAE from September 19.

Speaking to news agency ANI, sources in the know of developments said that a total of 16 umpires are set to officiate in this edition of the cash-rich league and that will include four umpires from ICC's Elite Panel. Chris Gaffaney (New Zealand), Richard Ellingworth (England), Paul Reifel (Australia) and Nitin Menon (India) are the ones from the ICC's Elite Panel and the rest will be those in BCCI's own panel.

"There are four from ICC's Elite Panel who have been selected to officiate in the tournament. The rest are Indian umpires. We are looking to bring in the umpires in the UAE around September 10," the sources said.

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The IPL 2020 is slated to be played from September 19 to November 10 in the UAE across three venues -- Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah. The final match of the 2020 edition is scheduled to be played on a weekday, i.e. Tuesday, for the first time in the history of the T20 tournament. This time, both the afternoon and evening matches will be played half-an-hour earlier than usual.

As per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) for IPL 2020, players and match officials have been advised to go back to their hotel and take a shower after match days as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus. All the eight teams have also been asked to use an electronic team sheet rather than carrying hard copies of their playing XI list during toss on match days.

The IPL 2020 won't also feature any toss mascot this year and as reported by ANI earlier, players and officials will have to wear Bluetooth-enabled badges to help in contact tracing. The badge can be opened inside the designated hotel rooms of the players and officials as well as on the field of play.