IPL in The Times of a Pandemic
The 13th edition of the IPL is set to start on September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Like in previous years, no Pakistani player will be part of it, though several Pakistanis have from time to time expressed their desire to play in the world’s most lucrative cricket tournament.
Has Mani broached this issue with any of the BCCI officials since taking over as PCB chairman? “No, not at all. This is very much a matter for the BCCI. But unfortunately, it’s not in their hands either. We don’t have that issue in Pakistan,” he said.
Mani also said he has so far not met Ganguly, though they have spoken on the phone a couple of times and attended virtual ICC meetings together.
“I would have thought that every IPL team served self-isolation in India before going to the UAE and went into self-isolation there as well, so that they were sure that they did not slip. But I don’t know what the BCCI has done and what the requirements are. I can’t really comment on that,” he averred.
“I can tell you that when we went to England recently, those who returned positive Covid results were not allowed to travel,” Mani pointed out, referring to the Pakistani team’s bilateral Test and T20 series in England.
All eight IPL teams are now in the UAE. But there was a big scare when 13 players/personnel of the Chennai Super Kings tested positive for Covid-19 recently. Since then things have calmed down with the match schedule being announced.
Does Mani think the pandemic would impact IPL? “There are two aspects. First was that it was very natural as a player to face something that you fear. And you can’t force anyone to anything. Then, the viability factor will be another challenge that some countries and teams will face (due to the pandemic). With the IPL, it is their call on how they cope with it. It’s not an easy situation. It needs the support of the BCCI, the Emirates Cricket Board, and also they have to follow the guidelines of the UAE government on this. This will change from day to day,” he said, looking into the future.
Mani, a former left-arm pacer, felt it was “impossible to suggest” when the pandemic would end. “We have different types of issues in different countries. Among the cricket playing countries, New Zealand has been the best with a very low number of cases. My concern at the moment is the sub-continent. In Pakistan, it is largely under control. But India has the biggest rise in world cricket and there is a big spike there. So, it will be impossible to resume cricket in the short term. That is a big concern. No doubt that till December-January it would be a big challenge for all the cricket boards,” he said.
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