The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly on Monday visited Sharjah Cricket Stadium — one of the three venues for IPL 2020 — to review the preparations, with only few days left in the start of the cash-rich tournament. The IPL 2020 was moved overseas to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to rising coronavirus cases in the country. Ganguly was accompanied by some of the local dignitaries and former IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla, among others. Satisfied with the arrangements made by the local authorities, the former India skipper shared a few pictures from his visit and wrote: “Famous Sharjah stadium all set to host IPL 2020”.

Most of the players and support staff of all eight teams arrived in the UAE last month to start their pre-season after a long break due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The players have been training for almost a month now and are raring to go all guns blazing in the tournament and put a smile on fans’ faces who have been waiting eagerly for the tournament to start.

Ganguly had left for the UAE last week to oversee the preparations ahead of IPL 2020 — which will be played across three venues Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah between September 19 to November 10.

The opening match of the IPL 2020 will be played in Abu Dhabi between defending champions Mumbai Indians and last year’s runners-up Chennai Super Kings.

Sharjah Cricket Stadium will host a total of 12 league-stage matches, starting with Rajasthan Royals taking on Chennai Super Kings on September 22.

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The last league match of the IPL 2020 will be played in Sharjah between SunRisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians on November 3.

The BCCI is yet to announce the dates and venues for the play-off matches and the summit clash — which will be played on November 10.