IPL (Indian Premiere League) returns to India as previous edition of 2020 was entirely played in UAE. IPL is one of the biggest Carnivals in the World Cricket as it’s often called as the stepping stone towards the T20 World Cup.
This time though the situation is tricky as India is reporting more than 1 Lakh cases daily as it is getting gloomier and darker. As of now 4 players tested positive for Covid 19 in which Devdutt Paddikal of RCB (Royal Challengers Bangalore) reported 2 negative tests and joined the squad; Daniel Sams of RCB, Axar Patel of DC (Delhi Capitals) and Kiran More of MI (Mumbai Indians) who is a Scout and Spin Bowling Consultant. Recently 10 members of Ground Staff reported positive at the Wankhede Stadium. There is a lot of uncertainty especially at the matches of Mumbai as Mumbai is the hotspot of Covid 19. Maharashtra Government has assured IPL Commission for matches but if cases keep on rising it would be like playing with fire. BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) has kept contingency plans in place in the form of Hyderabad but shifting the matches would be a tricky.
BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has assured that IPL Matches will take place and said that don’t panic. BCCI has taken a great step by playing matches all behind the doors so there won’t be any chances of transmission of Covid 19. PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) made that mistake by allowing 10 % and then 50% spectators which hindered their PSL (Pakistan Super League) and the tournament was postponed in the middle stage. PSL is lucky as their remaining matches are tentatively scheduled to be held in the early June but if IPL gets abruptly postponed then they don’t have the window as the International Cricket Resumes from June. There are bio bubbles at every venue as BCCI is quite strict regarding as BCCI should take a leaf out of the entire England Summer and CPL (Caribbean Premiere League) too.
The State Governments have given green signal to IPL as there would be testing of all the players and staff at every venue. If a player reports positive test, he would be isolated for 10 days as currently Axar Patel is in isolation and would need to give two negative tests to join the squad. The major concern for IPL would be if the boards of Australia or England take a U-turn then BCCI would be in tatters. Players have that freedom to opt out of IPL as their Franchises haven’t paid them because all the payments are processed only after the tournament. After all players safety and security cannot be compromised. Currently India is the 3rd Country badly hit with Covid 19 after USA and Brazil.
There is no home advantage for this year’s IPL. 6 venues are too much for the matches as 3-4 venues would have been ideal. The fate of the 14th Edition of IPL lies in the hands of players as breaches of bio-bubbles would hurt a lot. This year’s IPL could be the last one of the Legendary MS Dhoni and after the IPL there is T20 World Cup scheduled at India in October-November 2021. This IPL would give every nation idea of their squad.
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