IPL 2021: COVID-19 stops for nobody, let alone the BCCI

Melinda Farrell

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IPL 2021: COVID-19 stops for nobody, let alone the BCCI image

Things happen quickly during a pandemic. 

A week ago the IPL appeared to be running relatively smoothly; there were no crowds but millions of eyeballs watching daily matches, rejoicing at the exploits of Shikhar Dhawan and arguing about whether David Warner should have been dropped from Sunrisers Hyderabad. 

Watching from afar, there was an uncomfortable, even disturbing, juxtaposition of hyped-up entertainment amid a health system buckling under the surging COVID-19 strain.

Images of cricketers celebrating a win contrasted with footage from the streets and hospitals outside on television news bulletins.

There were many who said it shouldn’t have gone ahead once there were signs the second wave was coming; others who felt it provided valuable relief and incentive to stay home and curb the spread of this insidious virus. 

Many inside the bubble praised its strict protocols and said they felt safe, although there were admissions of discomfort and distress at the suffering of those outside, evident in Pat Cummins' statement that accompanied his decision to donate AU $50,000 to aid Indians who were suffering.

 

 

But Covid-19 doesn’t give a stuff about entertaining the masses. It thumbs its nose at the wealth and might of the world’s most powerful cricket board, the BCCI. It shrugs its shoulders at celebrity and status. It mocks any notion of impregnability.

And once it pricks a bubble, the collapse is swift. 

“As overseas players, the feeling amongst the guys I chatted to was that it definitely felt more safe and more comfortable over in the UAE as opposed to India.”
- Andrew Tye, Australian cricketer

The warning signs were there during England’s tour of India earlier this year, a tour that started with crowds and ended with empty stadiums. The BCCI stood as King Canute, vainly attempting to command the waves, until even it had to admit defeat. 

Once it found a way in and reports emerged that two Kolkata Knight Riders players, Varun Chakavarthy and Sandeep Warrier, had tested positive, the end seemed inevitable. More positive tests in multiple clubs meant an increasing number of players suddenly didn’t feel so safe and wanted to return home. 

The IPL was meant to show that India could successfully host a major tournament at home, paving the way for the T20 World Cup in October. The BCCI announced nine venues, eschewing the ‘caravan hubs’ of the IPL, with teams criss-crossing the country between cities. The lack of official approval from the ICC reflected internal concerns that even the most stringent protocols could not maintain a biosecure bubble with so much movement. 

The IPL clubs have thrown everything money can buy to make the bubble a fortress but the same amount of cash would not be available for an ICC tournament. Political negotiations lie ahead but it is now inconceivable that the T20 World Cup could be held in India this year and it will almost certainly be moved to the UAE.

Of course, the UAE hosted a full IPL tournament last year, and the IPL’s indefinite postponement makes it impossible to argue that this year’s edition shouldn’t also have been held there. The players could have played for humanity just as well in Dubai.

The three Australian players - Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson and Andrew Tye - who flew home before the government’s ban on all passenger flights from India took effect must be breathing an extra heavy sigh of relief. They knew when they abandoned the tournament that they were risking any future IPL contracts.

As Andrew Tye told Sporting News, “It’s always a concern if you leave early and don’t get a chance to play you’re not really putting your name up there for performing in that competition. But I just tried to look after my own health and my own safety and my own wellbeing to get home.

“As overseas players, the feeling amongst the guys I chatted to was that it definitely felt more safe and more comfortable over in the UAE as opposed to India.”

The situation of Australian players, coaches, umpires and media who remain is better than that of their less famous compatriots still in India but without the protection and aid of the BCCI but it will sharpen the focus on all those who face the prospect of fending for themselves or risking criminal charges if they return home. The fact that all other foreign players have a means of immediately getting back to their own countries, with various levels of conditions and quarantines, heightens the sense that an Australian passport is less valuable as a guarantee of safe passage than others.

The IPL is not the first major competition to buckle during the pandemic. England and Australia pulled the pin on their tours to South Africa and the Pakistan Super League was also postponed after players tested positive. 

During the Australian summer, there were endless contingency plans for the India tour and constant uncertainty over fixtures as outbreaks and subsequent border closures threatened to derail the schedule. 

Rightly or wrongly, major cricket tournaments and tours will continue to take place as the world struggles to overcome this pandemic. 

But the collapse of cricket’s richest and most popular tournament is a stark and sobering reminder that COVID-19 does not discriminate.

Melinda Farrell

Melinda Farrell Photo

Melinda Farrell is a senior cricket writer for The Sporting News Australia.