'Not always helpful to be wise after event': Ganguly on BCCI's decision to hold IPL 2021 despite surge in Covid-19 cases
IPL 2021: After the suspension of the league to the Covid-19 crisis in India, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly commented on the situation when he was asked if the tournament could have been called off earlier.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) was always facing a battle against the odds when it started in April 2021. India saw a huge surge in Covid-19 cases with more infections breaking records day after day. IPL 2021 continued unscathed from its Mumbai and Chennai leg with no cases being reported among the players. But as soon as the teams reached Delhi and Ahmedabad, things started unraveling.
Covid-19 broke into the bio-bubble created by the BCCI and players and support staff started getting infected. Eventually, the BCCI decided to suspend the 14th edition of IPL with players returning home soon.
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There has been criticism leveled at the BCCI for holding the tournament in India despite a surge in cases in the country. BCCI President Sourav Ganguly commented on the situation when he was asked if the tournament could have been called off earlier.
“You can say that now in hindsight that the IPL should have been called off earlier. Mumbai and Chennai (legs) did not have cases. Only when the IPL reached Delhi and Ahmedabad did the cases rise. People will say a lot of things in any case. The English Premier League had so many people affected. But they could reschedule the matches. But you can’t do that with IPL. You stop it for seven days and it is done. Players go back home and then the process of quarantine starts from scratch,” Ganguly said in an interview with Sportstar.
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“There are different scenarios, and it is not always helpful to be wise after the event. We don’t have the advantage. As I said, we would have continued if there were no cases. We would have completed the IPL. The players were in the bubble and there were no crowds at the venues. Players were not getting infected. Once the players got affected, we called it off. Look at leagues going around the world. They have had Covid cases, but they have continued,” Ganguly continued to say.
Ganguly also revealed that the chances of IPL taking place in India are very less. Ganguly said that it is ‘too early to say how we can find a slot to complete the IPL.’
