No spectators will be allowed in stadiums during England tour of India

The wait of watching a cricket match live continues for Indian cricket fans as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has denied the possibility of allowing spectators during England’s tour of India. The Englishmen are scheduled to face India from February 5 to March 28 in four Tests followed by five T20Is and three ODIs.

It was speculated that a certain number of fans could be allowed in the stadiums as India’s central government has given necessary permissions for the same. But the BCCI has decided against this and will be hosting the entire tour in a biosecure bubble across three cities – Chennai, Ahmedabad and Pune.

The Indian board took this decision as they don’t want to take any kind of risk with the safety of the players. Also, both the squads will be undergoing harsh quarantine and rounds of novel coronavirus tests before entering the bio-bubble.

“The teams will be in hard quarantine. BCCI doesn’t want to take any chance with the home season so close. So, crowds will not be allowed,” the BCCI official said as quoted by TOI.

BCCI to allow Indian players to visit their homes

Keeping in mind the mental health of the players, the Indian board will give permission to players who haven’t gone out of the bio-bubble since August, to visit their respective families. After spending some quality time with them, they will rejoin the bi0-bubble for the marquee England series.

Many Indian players including Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Siraj, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant and others haven’t returned to India since August 2020 and are constantly living in a biosecure bubble.

The players had flown to the UAE in August to participate in the 13th edition of the IPL. They then boarded the flight to Sydney for a full-fledged series against Australia.