The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has released the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.

The BCCI SOP for IPL 2020 is a 16-page document that has been shared with all 8 franchises of the sporting league. It entails detailed guidelines and precautionary measures to keep the players and staff members safe during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the SOP, players and team members will have daily temperature checks and answer health questionnaires. They will also be required to need to undergo at least 5 mandatory COVID-19 PCR tests before entering the bio-secure environment and take a test every 5th day during the tournament. If players don’t have a normal temperature, they will have to undergo a COVID-19 test.

“Players should arrive at the training venue dressed in their training kit to ensure time in the dressing room is minimised. Cricket kit should be fully packed away after training and stored in a room at the ground that is subject to regular cleaning,” the BCCI SOP reads.

Players and staff will need to wear face masks and people in the dugouts will be safely distanced.

Other regulations include no customary handshakes after the toss, no mascots, no saliva on the ball and the use of purely electronic team sheets.

Anticipation around this year’s IPL 2020 continues to grow by the day. IPL is scheduled to be held from September 19 to November 10 in the UAE.