What cricket lovers feared has happened. The 14th season of the IPL continued well into the second half but everything was abandoned at the start of the second half. The BCCI stopped the tournament indefinitely as they were convinced that things were not under their control. It took two days for everything to change. Everything went well until Sunday’s double header.
But by Monday, the picture had changed. Covid’s confirmation at the Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings camps has put things in crisis. Later, the BCCI was forced to suspend the tournament due to Covid outbreak in Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals camps. Some mistakes on the part of the BCCI have now led to the suspension of the tournament. Let’s see what these are.
The IPL had ti be shifted to the UAE
The IPL governing body had suggested to the BCCI that the tournament should be shifted to the UAE before the start of this season. But the BCCI did not take it with any seriousness. The BCCI moved ahead with the IPL in the wake of the recent India-England Test, ODI and T20 series. Some franchise owners also agreed to relocate the IPL to the UAE. But the BCCI did not give it any real thought.
Why Caravan Model?
The caravan model is only relevant if the spectators enter the stadium. But the question is why the BCCI decided to hold matches in six venues (Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore) even though the spectators did not have access. The IPL, which was held in the UAE last season, was also on the caravan model. But the entire match was played in three venues. The number of vnues could have been restricted to the lesser affected states and cities.
No one in charge.
Last season in the UAE, the BCCI tasked the UK-based Restrata for preparing a centralized bio-bubble and for player safety. Their antiquated preparations also helped the franchises. The BCCI, however, has not given such an assignment to anyone this time. This is what led to the great tragedy.
Disorganized Hotel Bookings
The BCCI also made mistakes in the hotel bookings of the teams. Booking arrangements were random, soemtimes the franchisees were in charege and sometimes BCCI. The BCCI failed to consolidate this. The stars of a franchise in Mumbai were staying in a hotel that was part of a commercial complex that was most prone to the spread of the disease. It was 10 km from the stadium in Mumbai.
Weak Bio Bubble
The BCCI described the bio-bubble as the safest place on earth to avoid being contracting covid. But that has been confirmed to be a flawed claim as six people from different franchises were infected by COVID virus. It was clear that the bio-bubble violation itself had led to such a crisis. Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Varun Chakraborty, who was first confirmed by Covid, broke out of bio-bubble and underwent scanning at a hospital, a national media had reported on Monday.
