The IPL Governing Council has agreed that given the high prevalence of COVID-19 in India, its only option is to move the tournament to the UAE and therefore approved doing so.

Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi will host matches, with the tournament set to begin on September 19 and end on November 10.

The 53-day competition will be played in the window originally assigned for the Men's T20 Cricket World Cup in Australia, after that tournament was postponed due to the global health crisis.

Organisers will hope that means players from around the world will be available to play, although precise details concerning squad sizes and any bio-secure bubble have not yet been confirmed.

The Indian Government is yet to approve the plans, but expected to do so.

A Women’s T20 Challenge is also set to take place in the UAE, but will clash with the Women's Big Bash League in Australia - something some, including Australia star Alyssa Healy, have criticised as they fear it will dilute the quality of both competitions.

The IPL was partly held in the UAE in 2014 owing to an Indian general election, while it has also been played in South Africa previously because of security concerns.

IPL salaries are typically cricket's biggest.

The eight-team tournament has been played 12 times, with the Mumbai Indians - reigning champions - winning a record four titles.

There have been more than 1.8 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in India and at least 38,000 deaths.

The UAE's rolling seven-day average for daily new cases is below 400.