According to Saurav Ganguly, the breach in the biosecure bubble of the IPL that led to the suspension of the competition may have been caused by travelling between cities. Ganguly added that the BCCI would have to do a “post-mortem” to corroborate the theory. Speaking to a media outlet, the BCCI president said that the BCCI would try to hold the rest of the IPL matches within a window created before the T20 World Cup scheduled to be hosted by India in October-November.
Ganguly’s Statement to Media
Ganguly has been quoted as saying, “I really don’t know what led to this situation inside the biosecurity bubble. We will have to do a post-mortem and investigate the reasons behind this. But travelling could have been an issue. Last year [IPL 2020] in the UAE, everything was restricted to three venues and within a limited area. There was no air travel involved. Here we had six different venues. You also must look at the situation around the country. The way the number of people are getting affected on a daily basis is total madness. No one knows what is going to happen tomorrow. Things have gone out of control for everyone.”
IPL Suspended After a Spate of Cases Among Franchises
Five Covid-19 cases had been reported by three franchises (Sunrisers 1, CSK 2, KKR 2) when the IPL was suspended. Two more cases have since been reported to Amit Mishra (DC’s spin bowler) and Mike Hussey (KKR’s batting coach). The cases happened at the end of the first phase of the competition held in Chennai and Mumbai when the teams were required to travel to Delhi and Ahmedabad for the second phase of matches. The teams were due to travel again for the third phase of the competition to Kolkata and Bangalore before shifting finally to Ahmedabad for the playoffs. Ganguly said, “We have to speak to other boards and see if a window can be made available before the T20 World Cup. Lot of things are involved and we will slowly start working on them.”
Speculation on Holding T20 World Cup in India
Serious doubt has been cast over the possibility of holding the T20 World Cup in India, following the suspension of the IPL in the middle of a spike in Covid-19 across the country during the pandemic’s second wave. According to the BCCI president, it was a bit premature to comment on the matter and that Indian cricket’s governing body would confer with other boards to consider the possibility of fitting the remainder of the IPL between India’s tour of England, due to end in mid-September, and the start of the T20 World Cup, due to begin in mid-October. “There has got to be a lot of shuffling. Only a day has passed since we suspended the IPL. We have to speak to other boards and see if a window can be made available before the T20 World Cup. Lot of things are involved and we will slowly start working on them. If we fail to complete the IPL, the loss will be close to INR 2500 crore (USD 340 million approx.). That is going by early estimates.”
