The bigger challenge is in UAE once they have everyone in one space. Every individual boarding a flight to UAE will take two COVID-19 tests in 72 hours. They will be in quarantine for a week post that with tests on days 1, 3 and 6.
Setting up a bio-bubble was a challenge for England when they hosted West Indies and, now, Pakistan. Even with less than 50 players in the bubble, Jofra Archer and Mohammad Hafeez breached the bio-security protocols. The County Championship in England also threw up an incident inside the first week of its return with Kent’s 19-year old opener, Jordan Cox, breaking social distancing norms after a double century.
Throw more people into the bubble and the possibility of a breach multiplies. The franchises are asked to stay in different hotels according to the draft SOP handed over by BCCI to the IPL franchises. Food will only be by room service with no access to common areas. With tons of protocols in place, it’s fairly easy to assume that some of the personnel in the bubble at least could miss a few pointers, resulting in a breach.
Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Tolerance and Chairman of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), said: “This is undoubtedly the highest-profile cricketing event to be held in the UAE.”
All said and done, this one sentence speaks volumes about the challenge for the ECB as well. While the Sharjah 10 and Emirates D10, 10-over tournaments, were played in UAE during the lockdown observing protocols laid down by the ICC, the IPL and its vastness presents a different challenge altogether, one which the ECB hasn’t quite often encountered.