Suddenly IPL 2021 suspended ,which was on the cards. The moment Covid cases rising again in April, it was very clear that IPL was at risk. Two days ago, things looked in control as far as IPL 2021 was concerned. But, on 3rd May ,unexpected news came. IPL was going smoothly with the bio-secure bubble which was like a COVID shield for the players as well as stakeholders. But the moment some players break the bio-secure bubble, BCCI immediately decided to postponed IPL .
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On May 3rd, news broke that two KKR players Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrior have tested positive. Due to this, the evening match between KKR and RCB got postponed. But this was just the trailer for something worse to happen. Next day, 3 members of CSK squad including bowling coach L Balaji also tested positive. In the evening Amit Mishra of Delhi Capitals and Wriddhiman Saha of Sunrisers Hyderabad also joined this list. At this point IPL governing council concluded that IPL 2021 has to be immediately suspended.
This has brought a lot of sadness to the cricket fraternity. It was the IPL that was acting as a stress buster for the Indian people during this pandemic. The prime slot of TV 7.30 pm-11 pm was the time when people switched on their tv sets to watch the IPL. It’s not that the cancellation of IPL has just brought emotional sadness. This has brought a huge monetary loss to the BCCI as well as the IPL franchises.
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BCCI ,franchises may loss around 2200 crore
According to BCCI sources, around 2200 crore revenue has been wiped out due to the suspension of IPL. The biggest revenue source of BCCI comes from the official broadcaster Star Sports. Around 1700 crore loss come from here itself. If we add sponsors and other factors, the loss easily exceeds 2000 crore. But IPL stakeholders thought that the health and safety of all the players is a priority and the monetary loss can be recovered later.
BCCI is also making arrangements for the Foreign players to reach their home safely. This makes one thing very clear that IPL 2021 won’t be resumed in near future.
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When will IPL 2021 resume ?
If we look at the ICC cricket calendar for this year, India is scheduled to play with New Zealand in the ICC world Test championship final from 18th-23 June in England. It is expected that India will play some T20 matches in July. Then team India will head to England to play 5 test match series in August . After that, ICC Men’s T20 cricket world cup is scheduled in October-November in India. So, if the condition improves, we can expect the remaining of the IPL 2021 matches to be held somewhere towards the end of august this year.
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This has raised a lot of eyebrows about the future of the ICC Men’s T20 cricket world cup in India. Though the tournament is scheduled in October -November, it seems highly unlikely that ICC would go with India as the hosts for this mega event. The way the bio-secure bubble could not act as a safe haven for the IPL players, the conduct of the world cup would be even more difficult.
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According to some sources, ICC has almost took a decision to shift ICC men’s T20 world cup to the UAE. They feel that India won’t be in a position to conduct the event seeing the Covid environment. However, the BCCI officials are hopeful that they would be able to safely conduct Men’s T20 cricket world cup in India along with the remainder of IPL 2021. Let’s see what is in store for all cricket fans in coming days.
