Some members of the Chennai Super Kings team have tested positive for the coronavirus and that has postponed their IPL 2021 clash against Rajasthan Royals.
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The coronavirus pandemic has cast some doubts on IPL 2021. After the postponement of Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals game has also been postponed. On Monday, three members of the Chennai Super Kings staff, including coach L Balaji and CEO Kasi Viswanathan tested positive for COVID-19.
According to the BCCI SOP, if there is a positive case in the team, the players have to quarantine for six days. Viswanathan told Cricbuzz that the players are currently in isolation. Chennai Super Kings were expected to take on Rajasthan Royals on May 5 at the Arun Jaitley stadium. The postponement was inevitable after the CSK players went in isolation.
There is no such doubt over the match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians at the same venue on Tuesday. According to reports, the BCCI has sent an official communication to the Sunrisers Hyderabad team and the match will happen today. Delhi Capitals’ practice, though, at Narendra Modi stadium is cancelled. Delhi Capitals’ next game is against Kolkata Knight Riders on May 8.
These fast developments come at a time when the BCCI is planning to move the tournament to Mumbai. According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, the BCCI is planning to move the entire IPL to Mumbai. The move could happen this weekend. Mumbai has three cricket grounds which will make travel less problematic. The Wankhede stadium, Brabourne Stadium, Bandra Kurla Complex ground and DY Patil stadium is the likely venues.
The second reason is that Mumbai and Maharashtra is now seeing a dip in cases. On Monday, there were 48,621 cases in Maharashtra but in Mumbai, there was only 2200 cases. In April, there were 11,000 cases in Mumbai.
The next leg of the IPL will take place in Bengaluru and Kolkata. However, Bengaluru is a current COVID-19 hotspot with a large number of cases. In Kolkata, the situation is no worse. The active coronavirus cases in West Bengal and Karnataka has forced the BCCI and the franchises to apparently reconsider travel. With one match being postponed, there might be multiple double-headers in place for the coming weeks.
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