As gory scenes of innocent Covid-19-infected people falling dead on streets, the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, now on in India, has created new problems for its organisers, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The rising cases of Covid-19 in the country had become a major concern for the IPL as a franchise executive had revealed that Covid-19 fear has gripped everyone who is part of the 2021 lucrative mega tournament.
A worry for the players
“The IPL 2021 is being conducted in the country under total precautions, but the rising Covid-19 cases have become a reason for anxiety and worry amongst players, coaches, and support staff,” said one newspaper report emerging in India last week.
The BCCI has taken several steps for the safety of players and those involved in the IPL. Each team will travel just three times during the group stages. Players, coaches, and the support staffs are living inside a bio-secure bubble.
Players too have tested positive
And Covid-19 tests are regularly conducted for players and all participants of the event. Spectators are not allowed to enter the stadiums and the matches are conducted under closed doors.
One franchise executive had revealed to the Times of India (TOI) that “coronavirus fear has gripped everyone who is part of IPL 2021”.
He has further informed that everyone inside the bubble is concerned for their safety and health.
Ahead of the tournament, players like Devdutt Padikkal of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Axar Patel of Delhi Capital (DC) franchises were tested positive for Covid-19. Some members of support staffs were also tested positive ahead of the tournament. Recently, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s parents were also tested positive for the coronavirus.
Sudden fearful spike of cases
In the past week, the situation in the country has been worsening on a day-to-day basis. In the past 24 hours alone, as was stressed by TOI, 332,730 fresh cases had been reported in India. At least 2,000 people unfortunately had lost their lives due to the sudden spike of what is alleged to be a new and more dangerous variant of the deadly virus.
Many States like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana meanwhile have already introduced partial lockdowns to contain the spread of the pandemic yet the cricket tournament was taking place until last Friday (23) without any announcement of an interruption.
Final call on T20 World Cup in June
The ICC is expected to take a final call on whether the World Cup can be hosted in India by June.
Even though the tournament is scheduled for October-November, which is still six months away, there are concerns whether India would be a safe place to host the event anyway.
ICC team to visit India
An ICC team is scheduled to visit India later this month to access the real situation there before taking their final decision. But there are indications that the trip could be postponed too in the wake of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the country.
As far as the BCCI is concerned, they are confident that they can host the competition and believe that the successful conduct of the ongoing IPL will establish their ability to hold the World Cup.
UAE could be an alternative venue
It is understood that the BCCI will cite the current vaccination drive in the country to leverage some more time, at least till the end of July, but whether the ICC is prepared to wait remains a thorny issue.
It was reported earlier that the ICC had had plans to consider the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as an alternate venue for the much-anticipated T20 World Cup.