London, May 7: The IPL is one of the biggest cricket tournaments globally; it attracts vast crowds both inside the stadium and around the world on television. The fanfare and salaries on offer attract the best players worldwide every year, and the tournament is always a spectacle.
The opening match of the 2020 edition of the IPL, for example, attracted 200 million viewers on its own, and a total of 383 billion minutes of cricket were watched during the event. According to a report in the Times of India, the competition is valued at between $6.5-billion and $7-billion. As a result, many popular cricket betting apps, such as Parimatch, offer competitive odds and match stats.
With all that as a backdrop, IPL organisers were understandably keen for the 2021 edition to go ahead when the Indian government gave them the all-clear. The opening few games of the tournament were as explosive and exciting as everyone expected them to be. However, the coronavirus situation in the country has exploded abruptly, resulting in the need for the tournament to be suspended for the time being.
The decision was taken by the IPL Governing Council and the BCCI after several bio-bubbles were breached and many players and staff from many franchises began to test positive for the disease. The writing was on the wall after the match between Kolkata Knight Riders, and Royal Challengers Bangalore was called off at the start of May.
"Best decision has been taken given the circumstances. A lot of people are suffering in India. As far as hosting the event was concerned in the first place, due diligence was done before the IPL but no one is perfect. The right call was taken to hold it in India ahead of the World Cup it is just unfortunate that the situation deteriorated so quickly," said Wadia.
Some international players, predominantly from Australia, had opted out of the tournament before it was suspended because of the worsening conditions in India and criticised the BCCI for letting the IPL continue. However, Wadia explained that hindsight is 20/20, that the situation was vastly different at the start of the tournament and that no one could have predicted what happened.
"With due respect to the international cricketers, including Adam Zampa, the situation was very different a month ago. They should study the fact that cases were very less when we started before commenting on it. It happened during the Australia Open they shut the city down when it was happening. People didn't complain then, why now?" he asked.
The competition has been suspended indefinitely, but there are ongoing discussions about the potential of finishing the IPL in a country that is faring better against the pandemic, such as England, Australia or the United Arab Emirates.
The UAE is the obvious choice after the Arab country successfully hosted the 2020 edition because of the pandemic in India and because many top international stars would be planning to head to the country for the T20 World Cup.
England is also a solid option. India is already touring the country in August and September for the World Test Championship, and the weather should still be good enough to play cricket in September and October.
The final option under consideration at this stage, Australia, is a bit of a long shot right now, given the Australian government's decision to ban all travel to and from India. Still, the hope is that it might have eased restrictions somewhat four months from now.
"Cricket Australia certainly won't mind this exchange if their government allows. This can happen only if the Australian government changes its mind and if broadcasters are willing to agree," said sources close to the BCCI, according to the Times of India. (TINN/2 days ago) https://www.newkerala.com/cricket-news.php
