On this day in 2021: IPL was postponed after COVID breached bio-bubble
On this day last year in 2021, In an emergency meeting, the Governing Council of the Indian Premier League (IPL GC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) unanimously decided to postpone the IPL 2021 season due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The BCCI did not want to jeopardize the health of the players, support workers, and other people engaged in the IPL’s management. This decision was made with all stakeholders’ safety, health, and well-being in mind.
The Covid-19 pandemic started in the year 2020 and the cricketing activities were put on hold due to the enormous cases all over the world. The introduction of the bio-bubble helped players get back into the game, and following the rules and regulations of the bio-bubble environment and social distancing norms plus the Covid tests, the IPL was shifted to UAE for the 2020 season.
The league returned back to India for the 2021 season when things started normalizing and the cases were reduced. But the regulations did not change and remained in place for the safety of the players. There were new rules in place, as spectators not allowed inside the stadium and the games were played behind closed doors. Even the number of venues had been fixed to reduce travelling during such times as the concept of home and away games were nowhere in the scenario.
But the decision of postponing the event on an immediate basis was taken after multiple cases were reported by various franchises. The situation turned severe when Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier from the KKR had tested positive a few hours before their match against RCB and the game scheduled in Ahmedabad was called off.
A few hours later, Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings reported cases from their camp, and L Balaji testing positive increased the worry as he was a part of the dug-out during CSK’s game against the Mumbai Indians only two days before testing positive. Thus, the BCCI halted the event as it was later shifted to UAE later.
