IPL's caravan into the unknown

How do you conduct a mega tournament involving thousands of people, spread over 51 days, even as the worst wave since the pandemic began is hurtling towards an unprecedented peak? That's the challenge for the IPL, which begins today in Chennai when defending champions Mumbai Indians take on Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The first step, of course, is to try and ensure a bio-bubble that's as impervious as possible--for this edition of the league, each of its eight teams are in their own bio-bubble; anyone who has to enter the bubble--players, coaching, management or service staff and even team owners--have to go through an isolation period where they are repeatedly tested. Once the IPL begins, players and staff will be tested daily.

" We do acknowledge that rising Covid 19 cases in India complicates the matter," said Kasi Viswanathan, the Chennai Super Kings CEO, "but currently we are in the best possible place inside the bio-bubble where there is a set rule for everybody."

At the moment, teams are based out of two cities--three franchises are in Chennai, while five are in Mumbai. Each team is in their own bio-bubble, which is a hotel where a section is closed off for just the team and its officials. The hotel staff servicing this section stay in-house and are subject to the same bubble rules.

“Our doctor does not allow parcel food at all, although the SOPS allow for use of outside food after sanitizing the boxes, " said a player who did not wish to be named. "After we finalized our hotel in Mumbai, they broke one of their walls to create a separate entry/exit point to the hotel. There is barricading also so that the hotel residents don’t have a chance to come close to the players. Keeping the fans and selfie seekers in check is always a challenge in India, no matter how much security you have.

“All the players have friends in the other teams in IPL across nationalities. We would meet them during practices last year in UAE," he added. "This year there hasn’t been any instance of practice timings overlapping. So, we have been communicating only with people in our bubble."

One important aspect of the IPL bubble that was in place last year in UAE was that everyone inside the bubble had to wear a GPS enabled necklace with a unique id at all times; this time, there is no such tracking system yet.

"What I know is there were some loopholes in the previous GPS device, and they were working on some improvements. We are told it should come soon,” said a franchise official. “But we have noticed, the human inspection has gone up. Bubble integrity managers have been enhanced from 1 to 4 (per team) and they are a lot more vigilant.”

There is another major difference between last season and this one--teams now have to travel to many more venues. For the first time in 14 seasons, the IPL will be held in the cluster-caravan format where eight teams will play in six cities--Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

To prepare for this elaborate exercise, logistics managers of the IPL franchises were tracing every step their teams would take during the league when India and England were playing ODIs in Pune in March. The rehearsals were part of a plan which included setting up separate channels at airports, booking pre-sanitised charter flights and micromanaging details such as ensuring coach drivers in different cities have completed quarantine by the time their team arrives.

“The fact they are taking a flight, it can never be a bio-bubble in the true sense. They have to go through security; they may have to go through common areas. That is not going to be a zero-risk process, but it is going to be acceptable as long as all of them are wearing masks and taking precautions along the way,” said Dr Lancelot Pinto, consultant pulmonologist at Mumbai’s P D Hinduja Hospital, who has been at the forefront of the city's raging battle against the second wave. Having meals en route too could be a problem as that means pulling your mask down in a closed space, said Dr Pinto.

To minimise risk, teams and match officials will travel to the airport from hotels in sanitised coaches whose drivers have been staying with them and take an exclusive channel at the airport to board a charter flight. This eliminates the possibility of a transit stop like Jofra Archer's when England hosted West Indies last year. The pilots and cabin crew must clear RT-PCR tests -- the most accurate way to detect the novel coronavirus -- from an agency approved by the Indian cricket board 24 hours prior and on the morning of the flight.

“The pilots and cabin crew will quarantine at the team hotel outside the bubble zone for 48 hours before the scheduled departure,” according to a ANI report. Boarding passes will be handed to the team manager either one day before travel or on the day of departure, according to the SOP, which also states that “only pre-packaged food and drinks will be served on board.” A fresh mask needs to be worn before boarding the flight, according to the SOP.

While the bubble protocols in place for this edition are almost the same as the ones that were used last year, there was no flying or changing hotels in UAE.

“Last year, it wasn’t a caravan, but it had a fairly restricted movement. Certainly, it’s going to be different than last year but not far from what the players have experienced before,” said Punjab Kings fielding coach Jonty Rhodes.

For seven seasons till the pandemic forced them to pause in 2020, it has been the format for the Pro Kabaddi League.

"All successful leagues will need to create and manage effective COVID bubbles with compliance to regulations and advisories issued by various authorities from the centre, state governments as well as local authorities. Some of these come into play at short notice and evolve frequently, therefore the caravan format may be challenging at this time as it requires weekly movement,” said Anupam Goswami, the kabaddi league commissioner, in an email.

That’s not the only logistical challenge. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) couldn’t get three players--Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson and Kuldeep Yadav--to join the preparatory camp in Mumbai because they would have missed the charter to Chennai. “So they flew directly to Chennai where they are quarantining and will finish by the time we arrive,” said a team official, requesting anonymity. KKR start against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Chennai on Sunday.

There is of course, one more aspect to consider--the mental health of all the people who have to spend so much time isolated from the outside world.

“You get stuck inside this never-ending nightmare where you are reliving the same day over and over again," Australia's Glenn Maxwell said in an interview on his team RCB's website. "You almost tend to not know how to have normal conversations. It can be very hard mentally and is a massive challenge these days. Getting stuck in the four walls of this world, it tends to become very insular. It puts strains on relationships as well.”

No one knows how an experiment never tried before will work out so Rhodes called for focus on things they could control. “With T20 cricket or limited overs cricket, you always have to adjust and it’s not just in the way you play the game but it’s in the way you prepare, it’s the way you travel. It changes on a weekly basis… and the good players are always flexible and adapt to the game. From that point of view we are not concerned if its caravan or some other format,” he said.

(With inputs from Rasesh Mandani and Abhishek Paul)

Eyes on cricket in the backdrop of Covid

As India sees a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic rise towards its peak and states impose stricter curbs on movement to restrict the spread of the virus, the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League begins on Friday in Chennai with defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. The entire tournament will be played in front of empty stands.

The cluster caravan model

The pandemic had forced BCCI to hold the previous edition of the world’s richest cricket league in the UAE where it was staged inside bio-bubbles in three venues—Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The 2021 edition of the league will be held across six Indian cities—Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Bengaluru and Kolkata. Starting off with simultaneous bio-bubbles in Chennai and Mumbai, the caravan will move to Delhi-Ahmedabad and then to Bengaluru and Kolkata. The tournament will move back to Ahmedabad for the play-offs and final.

April 9 to April 25: 20 matches in Chennai and Mumbai

April 26 to May 8: 16 matches in Delhi and Ahmedabad

May 9 to May 23: 20 matches in Kolkata and Bengaluru

May 25: Qualifier 1 in Ahmedabad

May 26: Eliminator in Ahmedabad

May 28: Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad

May 30: Final in Ahmedabad

Teams starting in Mumbai

Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab Kings, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals

Teams starting in Chennai

Mumbai Indians, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers Bangalore

Covid positive cases

On April 4, India recorded 100,000 new cases—the country’s biggest single-day jump since the pandemic began. BCCI too faced some jittery moments as a flurry of Covid positive cases surfaced in the build-up to the tournament. So far, four cricketers, 12 ground staff of the Wankhede stadium, six event managers and a CSK content team member have tested positive in the IPL ecosystem. None of them were inside bio-bubbles.

Nitish Rana

KKR batsman Nitish Rana had arrived in Mumbai to join the squad with a negative report and tested positive on March 22 after going into mandatory isolation period. The 27-year-old tested negative on April 1. He joined training on April 3.

Axar Patel

Delhi Capitals’ star left-arm spinner Axar Patel, like Rana, had also arrived in Mumbai on March 28 with a negative report and tested positive on April 3 during his mandatory quarantine period. He is currently in isolation at a BCCI designated medical care facility and will only be allowed to rejoin the squad after he tests negative.

Devdutt Padikkal

RCB opener tested positive on March 22. The 20-year-old rejoined training on April 7 after staying in home isolation since testing positive.

Daniel Sams

RCB bowling all-rounder, who made his IPL debut last season for Delhi Capitals, tested positive on April 7. He had checked into the team hotel in Chennai on April 3 with a negative report. “His report from the second test on April 7 came positive,” RCB said in a statement.

Kiran More

The Former India wicket-keeper and currently Mumbai Indians’ wicket-keeping consultant and talent scout, tested positive ON April 6. All other members of the defending champions’ squad returned negative reports, MI said in a statement.

IPL bubble structure

# Franchises in eight separate bio-bubbles

# Match officials and management teams are in two other bubbles

# Broadcast and commentary crew have two bubbles in Mumbai and six more spread across the other venues.

#Four zones for match days

Zone 1: Dressing room, match official's room and Field of Play (FOP)

Zone 2: Inner Zone: Operational areas within stadium complex, allowing management and broadcast teams, ground and hotel staff, venue operations teams, bubble integrity managers

Zone 3: Outer Zone: Area outside stadium but within complex, allowing transportation staff and security personnel.

Zone 4: Families of players and other members who are part of a team's bubble

Charter flights for all players and officials for all domestic travel

BCCI has asked the airlines and the government to allow separate check-ins at airports for teams

BCCI on Thursday has decided on daily Covid tests inside the bubbles and appointment of a bio-bubble integrity officer.

What if a player tests positive during the IPL?

If someone inside the bubble tests positive, he will be isolated in an area outside of the bubble and contact-tracing will start immediately.

The IPL Medical Officer will take charge.

If the person is asymptomatic or has mild symptoms, he will be isolated for two weeks.

After that he must return two negative tests conducted 24 hours apart to return inside the bubble.