The day we have all been anticipating has finally arrived. In just a few hours from now, Indian cricket’s domestic season will restart when the first ball of Indian Premier League’s 13th edition is bowled at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. It has been 200 days since India’s international cricketers last took the field before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the stoppage of all sports all over the world in March.
A lot has happened since then. The IPL, which was assumed to start from March 29, got postponed like all other sporting events for an uncertain period as the world harnessed up to battle the deadly virus, which is still wreaking devastation all across the globe.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) knew it had to take some radical steps in order to have any chance of hosting the IPL at all this year. Cancellation would have meant a potential $534 million loss in earnings, commencing the board to shift the tournament out of India, which is the world’s second-worst concerned country with over 5 million cases of COVID-19 infections.
Then came the window of possibility that they were looking for. The International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to delay the T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia which provided a window for the Indian cricket board for IPL 2020. It was ultimately determined that the tournament would be taken abroad and the United Arab Emirates was chosen as the host country ahead of Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
But it wasn’t smooth sailing for the BCCI even though they had a host nation. Precautionary measures from Covid-19, getting the venues ready and holding a 53-day tournament between 8 teams while ensuring the safety of thousands of people involved with it, everything had to be figured out.
Even after the players and franchise officials reached the UAE, some members of Chennai Super Kings tested positive for Covid-19 including two players – Deepak Chahar and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Two more players – Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh – from the yellow brigade decided to skip the tournament altogether.
Mumbai Indians pacer and IPL’s highest wicket-taker Lasith Malinga also announced his decision to pull out due to personal reasons. But despite all these obstacles and challenges faced by the tournament organizers and the BCCI, the show will go on and the IPL will happen, albeit in completely different circumstances and without any fans inside the stadiums due to the bio-secure bubble.
Organizers, however, are hoping to allow some fans during the later stages of the tournament, which will end on November 10. It will be a different experience for the fans as well as watching the IPL on television without any background noise of the spectators shouting at the top of their voices, cheering for their favorite teams.
But nothing can take away the fact that the IPL will bring a positive change in the lives of cricket fans, and provide some entertainment in a difficult year so far. The tournament has always been known for bringing cricket and entertainment in the lives of fans which it will continue to do despite all the challenges it has faced this year.
