In the last week, three important developments related to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 have raised several questions. These questions are directly connected with Covid-19. The first is Suresh Raina’s statement in which the cricketer raised a question over bio-bubble set up, saying that he was not feeling comfortable with this set up for IPL players. The second is seven players having withdrawn from the 13th edition of IPL T20 cricket tournament due to Covid-19 scare. And the third is the UAE’s government strictness in view of a spike in Covid-19 cases in Abu Dhabi, which is leading to several problems making the situation unfavorable for the IPL.
The BCCI directed the franchise owners to follow the government guidelines more strictly. Can the BCCI be absolved of its responsibility after asking the franchises to follow the safety norms? Can the high-profile players of the IPL expected to follow the guidelines strictly? The situation in the UAE is that Suresh Raina was seen flouting the guidelines of social distancing by not wearing a mask along with his colleagues of Chennai Super Kings. That’s not all. Fast bowler Deepak Chahar, who has tested positive for Covid-19, has tweeted saying: “All have been tested negative bro two times and we don’t wear mask with family (CSK).” Deepak has tweeted this in reply to his brother Rahul’s tweet in which the latter had asked after seeing a picture: “Where is your mask bro? Social distancing?”
Now the question arises if the teams such as Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals can go to the UAE wearing PPE kits and follow the Covid-19 norms strictly there, why can’t other teams do like that? There, of course, are no high-profile players in Rajasthan Royals, but there are high-profile players in Mumbai Indians such as Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya. CSK team members’ picture which was clicked on the plane itself speaks volumes about flouting the social distancing norms. Around 12 support staff members of this team tested positive for Covid-19 and this raises questions on how the IPL tournament is being organised. What action will the BCCI or the organisers take against the players or the teams for flouting the safety norms? Is it possible practically? Nothing has been made clear about whether the team will follow the concurrent substitute rule if a player is found to be corona positive during the match. This issue has been raised by NCA director Rahul Dravid earlier. The bigger issue is whether the BCCI should appoint such personnel who would ensure strict observance of the corona norms by the players and there should be provisions to send the players to quarantine, who do not follow the corona guidelines.
When Wimbledon can be stopped for the first time after World War II, and ICC T-20 World Cup and Olympics can be postponed for a year, then why are league tournaments like IPL and CPL being organised where safety norms cannot be followed strictly. In fact, the England team has played series against West Indies, Ireland and Pakistan, and it is now playing matches against Australia and everything is fine there. So, in view of this, it has been presumed that everything will be okay with other tournaments also.
Actually, all the matches that were played in England after lockdown were bilateral series, where it was possible to ensure strict observance of all the norms. But it becomes challenging to ensure the same observance of rules and norms in the tournament where eight teams are playing and where franchine owners have invested huge amounts of money.
In a significant development, England’s pacer Chris Woakes and opening batsman Jason Roy have opted out of Delhi Capitals. Similarly, Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh have withdrawn from Chennai Super Kings, and England’s pace bowler Harry Gurney has opted out of KKR. Likewise, Australia’s fast bowler Ken Richardson and Sri Lankan’s speedster Lasith Malinga have withdrawn from RCB and Mumbai Indians respectively. The number of players leaving the tournament can go up as well. In the same manner, three key West Indian players had withdrawn their names when the team had left for England. Several of Pakistan’s players had also been found to be corona positive before the team’s departure for England. The message is that the conditions are not favourable for an ideal cricket. The precaution like ban on use of saliva and closed-door matches is no longer significant now. Another reality is that local administration in Dubai and Abu Dhabi has not yet given any assurance to the BCCI that they will relax their rules for the IPL players. The Covid-19 test has been made mandatory there. The IPL fixtures could not be released on time because at one point of time the IPL Governing Council was seriously considering to call off the Abu Dhabi leg of the IPL.
However, this is cricket’s fight against corona. Everybody is ready to enjoy the cricket. Let’s hope that a good solution to all the problems will be there in days to come. And, the cricket-lovers will have an opportunity to see a high-level game.