The 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) had to be postponed indefinitely after multiple cases of players testing positive emerged in the bio-bubble for two days in a row. Despite strict protocols and SOPs in place, the BCCI and IPL organizers could not prevent COVID-19 from breaching the IPL bio-bubble. Once the players who had been part of the playing XI starting getting infected, there was no way the tournament could have gone ahead. With the future of IPL 2021 on shaky ground, it is time to ask the hard question. Who is responsible for the mess that the tournament ended in, putting players’ lives at risk?
On the day that IPL 2021 was postponed indefinitely, simultaneous reports emerged the BCCI had actually shot down a proposal by the IPL governing council (GC) to shift the tournament entirely to the UAE. The 2020 edition of the event was conducted in the Middle East, and was a highly successful one amid challenging times.
In hindsight, IPL 2021 in India was too huge a risk and, hence, was destined to fail. By the time the tournament began, India was in the massive grip of COVID’s second wave, which only intensified with each passing day. How the BCCI concluded they could pull it off in India amid sure dire circumstances is beyond comprehension.
UAE was always the safer option
With Corona all-round, the virus needed only the slightest of opportunity to breach the bio-bubble. And a couple of players heading out for medical tests to treat injuries was enough to put the tournament in complete jeopardy. The end result should actually surprise a few. Was it a case of overconfidence or negligence or perhaps both?
Apparently, IPL governing council had proposed that IPL 2021 be shifted to the UAE, a week before the start of the tournament. The GC was very much wary of the second wave. A few franchises also backed the proposal. UAE had, in fact, even been put on standby a week prior to the start of IPL 2021. However, BCCI did not budge and decided the tournament was ‘safe’ enough to be held in India. The complete England series being completed without much fuss gave BCCI confidence. But, Sourav Ganguly and co did not take into account that the second wave of COVID could intensify to the level it has reached now.
Why not one venue?
A day before IPL 2021 had to be postponed indefinitely, reports began doing the rounds that the BCCI was planning to shift the entire tournament to one city – Mumbai – to reduce the risk of infections. Why didn’t the organizing committee, think of this earlier? In spite of all the bio-bubble and extreme precautions put in place, scheduling matches at six venues across India – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai – was always a move fraught with risk. Playing at different venue entailed travel, defeating the entire debate around the safety of players.
Hosting a one-city IPL could perhaps have made a tournament a little monotonous and brought down the challenge factor. But the priority at this time needed to be the safety of players. They couldn’t be travelling to different venues across the country when the nation was suffering unbearable grief and a number of states were actually in COVID-induced lockdown. It was nothing more than a bizarre exercise in futility.
Of course, BCCI’s intentions were noble. They wanted to bring some joy to the millions suffering in the country and across the world in general. Almost at the halfway stage, there were hopes that the IPL could actually pull through. But the mirage has finally been shattered to give way to stark reality. To plan a tournament of IPL’s magnitude amid a massive COVID wave was wishful thinking. To have the belief that they could actually pull it off was a far-fetched notion even with all of BCCI’s might put together.