IPL 2021: Starts April 9, no home games, no crowds at 6 venues including Mumbai
New Delhi: The IPL 2021 will run from April 9 to May 30 across six venues with no team getting to play at home, its Governing Council announced on Sunday.
Despite COVID-19 surge, Mumbai has been named as one of the host cities and the tournament will be held behind closed doors at least in in the initial phase of the tournament.
The other venues are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata. The Nardendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad will host the final on May 30 as well as the play-offs.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians will face Royal Challengers Bangalore in the tournament opener in Chennai on April 9.
As on Sunday, the BCCI's released schedule for the first four weeks till May 6 during which 33 matches will be played and not a single game has been slotted in Kolkata during the phase as there will be eight-phase state assembly elections in Bengal.
Each team is set to play at four venues during the league stage. Out of the 56 league matches, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru will host 10 matches each while Ahmedabad and Delhi will host eight matches each.
"One of the highlights of this edition of the VIVO IPL will be the fact that all matches will be played at neutral venues, no team will play at their home venue. All teams will play at 4 out of 6 venues during the league stage," read an IPL statement.
There will be a total of 11 double headers where six teams will play three afternoon matches and two teams will play two afternoon matches.
The afternoon games are slated for a 3:30 PM start while the evening games will have a 7:30 PM start.
"The fixtures of the tournament have been mapped in a way that every team will travel only three times during the league stage, thus reducing commute and minimising risk.
"The VIVO IPL this year at home will be played behind closed doors to begin with and a call on allowing spectators will be taken at a later stage of the tournament," the statement read further.
The previous edition was played in the UAE amid the pandemic but since then the COVID-19 situation has improved drastically in India.
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Snowfall blocks two key roads providing alternative connectivity to Kashmir
Rajouri/Jammu (PTI): Traffic on the Mughal and Sinthan Top roads, which provide alternate connectivity to Kashmir, was temporarily suspended on Sunday due to light to moderate snowfall in the high-altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
However, traffic on the 270-kilometre Jammu-Srinagar national highway -- the only all weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country -- was plying as usual despite intermittent rains that ended the over one-and-a-half months long dry spell, they said.
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The Mughal road, which connects the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri with south Kashmir's Shopian, was closed for traffic as a precautionary measure after more than three inches of snow was recorded at Peer Ki Gali on Sunday afternoon.
A group of three tea vendors are left stranded on the road and efforts are on to evacuate them to safety, officials said.
After they were trapped in the snow, the vendors made passionate appeals through video messages urging the authorities to rescue them. The Border Roads Organisation has taken up snow clearance work and is trying to reach the stranded persons, officials said.
The Sinthan Top road, which connects Kishtwar and Doda districts in Jammu with south Kashmir's Anantnag, was also closed after moderate snowfall in the higher reaches.
Both the mountainous roads usually remain closed for several months due to heavy snowfall during winter.
