The IPL 2021 has been postponed indefinitely as many players tested positive for the coronavirus pandemic and the BCCI has committed to ensuring the players return to their families safely.
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It is safe to say now that IPL 2021 was jinxed from the very beginning. Before the start of the tournament, India was gripped by the devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Over 350,000 cases per day. On one particular day, it reached 400,000 cases. There was an abnormal ‘new normal’ in many cities. A match was taking place where players celebrated a wicket or a milestone. In the real world outside the bubble, funeral pyres were being arranged in the thousands. Cities and people reeled with medical facilities on the brink of collapse.
That the IPL 2021 was being played at a bad time was never in doubt. However, there were sections who said the IPL was necessary as it gave them the distraction from the gloom of death and destruction. There was a fair majority that suggested that the IPL should not have happened at all.
On Tuesday, the BCCI made the decision to postpone the IPL immediately after many players tested positive for the coronavirus. It began with Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier in the Kolkata Knight Riders team. Later, three staff members of the Chennai Super Kings team, including CEO Kasi Viswanathan and bowling coach L Balaji also tested positive. The tipping point was when Amit Mishra and Wriddhiman Saha also tested positive.
It was the bio-bubble breach in Ahmedabad that broke the back of the IPL 2021. It was not helped by the fact that according to one report, the GPS tracking device worn by the team players did not work. The BCCI were taking a massive risk all along. But, had the risk paid off, it would have been sensational. But, in reality, it proved to be a failure.
The very fact that the BCCI thought about playing all the games in Mumbai after the coronavirus surge indicated short sightedness. In the UAE, the IPL could be managed because there were only three bio-bubbles to be maintained. The distance from Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi were not so great. Hence, maintaining three bio-bubbles was manageable.
In India, there were six bio-bubbles and all of them in cities which were COVID hotspots. The fact that teams had to travel three times already made the process vulnerable. Maintaining six bio-bubbles needed tremendous logistical co-ordination. That could not happen.
There was one photo of Kane Williamson and David Warner both posing with a PPE kit on a flight. That photo itself would have been an amber warning of caution. Travel spreads the coronavirus even quicker. The infection rate, when in travel, is far more than when one is in a secure place.
The BCCI should have had the foresight of hosting all the games in Mumbai and some in Pune. The distance from Mumbai to Pune is only a couple of hours. Apart from the Wankhede, Brabourne, DY Patil and Bandra Kurla Complex stadiums could have been used. Four stadiums, 24 strips of the wicket, 60 matches could have been done in the Mumbai bio-bubble itself.
The IPL 2021 tried to spread positivity and take on the coronavirus pandemic. In the end, the virus struck back. The tournament is postponed. The future is uncertain. For the ICC and the BCCI, this is the lesson. Multiple bio-bubbles is a huge logistical bottleneck. If it wants to host the ICC World T20, then it must be played in select cities minus travel. Afterall, if one can take the lessons from a certain failure, it will only benefit in the long-run.
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