IPL 2021: Five DDCA Groundsmen Test Positive for Covid-19; Here's What Happens Next

Already reeling from the brunt of daily Covid-19 cases, Delhi’s only respite from this deadly virus was a little live action from IPL. But with five ground staff now being tested positive, a lot now hangs in balance. The question everyone is asking whether Arun Jaitley Stadium continue to host games. The tournament is being played at different locations in a slot-wise manner. Firstly it was Chennai and Mumbai. Now, in the second leg Delhi and Ahmedabad are hosting games. Delhi was given eight games of which four games are done and dusted. The last game is scheduled to play on May 8th but things are a little volatile now. With five groundsmen and members of CSK staff being tested positive, there is a probability that number of cases might increase in coming days. What does that mean for the teams stationed in Delhi? How will that affect their chances in IPL 2021?

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Remaining Games at Arun Jaitley Stadium: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians in Delhi (May 4)

Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings (May 5)

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings (May 7)

Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians (May 8)

All eyes are now on the next game which happens tomorrow with Mumbai Indians taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad. Since the players who unfortunately tested positive (from CSK) have got nothing to do with these two teams, in all probability DDCA will go ahead with the game until public pressure mounts on BCCI to cancel it. Also, the news is that none of the five groundsmen were on duty yesterday as being reported otherwise earlier. In-fact these persons were not even close to the stadium premises in last 48 hours. This makes the players from RR and SRH relatively safe.

Deleted my earlier tweet on @delhi_cricket. Some Facts. Groundsmen did test positive but none were on duty yesterday or day before during the games. All staff r tested on gap days. indicted positive case were screened and removed. So players r safe.

— G. S. Vivek (@GSV1980) May 3, 2021

Also read:CSK Bowling Coach Lakshmipathy Balaji And CEO Kasi Viswanathan Test COVID-19 Positive; Five in DDCA Ground Staff Also Infected

Although the situation is volatile and nobody knows what happens from here. But in case DDCA is not able to host games, they will be moved to an alternate venue. In this case it will be Indore. But here is what happens if the whole Delhi leg is cancelled. For that, let’s take a close look at the points tally. CSK and MI are placed comfortably at second and fourth position. These two teams can still get away with it. Even RR can get away with it but for SRH it can be curtains. They are languishing at the bottom of the table winning just one game. Even on Sunday they lost to Rajasthan Royals and they will be the biggest loser if something like this happens. Meanwhile as of writing this report, there is no confirmation of Kotla’s fate. All we can do is wait and watch.

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