OPINION: IPL will serve as a dry run of T20 World Cup for players and organisers

The event will be staged in Oman and the UAE but will still be put on by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) who are also staging the IPL at the three Emirati international cricket grounds.

For the BCCI, the main focus will be ensuring the shadow of the pandemic does not stretch over either tournament any more than it already has.

Normally all parties concerned would also do their utmost to ensure that matches are high-scoring affairs, but this year that may just slide into the background as pitch quality is simply a secondary concern with so much at stake for the BCCI.

We can expect similar patterns to form and play out in the IPL as do in the World Cup.

India may hope the tournament gives them a boost but they will be laying on a platform for the best T20I players from around the world to come and experience the setup.

The surfaces will be used for a few weeks in the IPL before immediately being used for the World Cup, which could play into the hands of strong bowling teams like Pakistan, Australia and South Africa.

While Pakistan don’t have any players in the IPL most of their team are very familiar with how surfaces in the UAE play.

On an individual level, Virat Kohli will lead India in T20 cricket for the last time at the World Cup while also trying to end Royal Challengers Bangalore’s long wait for an IPL title.

For South Africans, the IPL could provide a window into what might have been with AB de Villiers also joining Kohli’s RCB quest, while rejecting the prospect of playing for his country at the big show one last time.

Organisers will experiment with fan entry into the stadium during the IPL, with the hopes of selling a few tickets to the World Cup to offset the massive costs already incurred in shifting the event to another host nation.

The IPL is underway and the World Cup is less than a month away but only time will tell if both tournaments can be labelled a success.