Cloud over IPL 2021 COVID bio-bubble as more overseas players mull pulling out

By Ayush Gupta | First Published May 3, 2021, 5:16 PM IST

The Indian Premier League 2021 is currently going through a challenging phase, with some of the members of the contingents having tested positive for COVID. Thus, this might force overseas players to reconsider their participation this season.

All the fun and entertainment involving the 2021 Indian Premier League seems to have come to a halt for now with Coronavirus breaching the highly secure bio-bubble. On Monday, reports confirmed that a couple of teams had been affected by the same.

Firstly, in the Kolkata Knight Riders' came, a couple of players -- Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier -- tested positive. Consequently, the scheduled match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Ahmedabad on Monday was called off.

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Meanwhile, another report emerged that three non-playing members of the Chennai Super Kings, Lakshmipathy Balaji (Bowling coach), Kasinath Viswanathan (CSK CEO) and a bus cleaner, had been infected. Although the CSK players seem to be safe for now, some apprehensions are lurking around.

As per the latest update from the sources, the Board of Control for Cricket in India could hold an emergency meeting to discuss the tournament's uncertainty now, while a final decision could be taken regarding the same in the next 24 hours. Also, BCCI could consider scrapping the caravan-style travelling system and move all the games to one city, which would curb the risk of players getting infected while on travel.

Even before IPL 2021 got underway, three Australian players -- Josh Philippe (RCB), Mitchell Marsh (SRH) and Josh Hazlewood (CSK) -- withdrew due to the risks involved. Later during the tournament, three more Australians -- Andrew Tye (RR), Kane Richardson (RCB) and Adam Zampa (RCB) -- along with England's Liam Livingstone (RR), withdraw for the same, besides also fearing about getting stranded owing to travel suspension between the respective countries.

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As a result, it seems that along with Covid, fear too has managed to creep into the tournament's bubble. According to sources, some overseas players might reconsider their participation in the competition for the season-remainder and could be thinking about pulling out.

Sources have confirmed that some players have expressed their concerns. Moreover, they are likely to take a call in the next few days, depending on how the current situation unfolds.

Meanwhile, BCCI and the IPL Governing Council had recently assured the players and team members that it will ensure the best possible health safety for the participating members and that they are absolutely safe as long as they are inside the bubble.

But now with the bubble breached, players are bound to get concerned about how foolproof the bubble actually is.

NOTE: Asianet News humbly requests everyone to wear masks, sanitise, maintain social distancing and get vaccinated as soon as eligible. Together we can and will break the chain #ANCares #IndiaFightsCorona

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