The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has faced tremendous flak over the past few weeks for continuing the Indian Premier League (IPL) during the ongoing COVID-19 surge. The IPL was finally postponed on Tuesday after multiple players and support staff tested positive for COVID-19.
Despite criticism, BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly told The Indian Express in an interview that it was not a mistake to organise the IPL this year. The Indian Express interview was published on Thursday. Ganguly told The Indian Express, "No [it was not a mistake to hold IPL]. When we decided, the number [of COVID-19 cases] was not even close to this. We did the England tour successfully."
Ganguly was asked whether the IPL should have been held in the UAE as it was done last year. Ganguly told The Indian Express, "It [holding IPL in UAE] was discussed, but the [COVID-19 cases] in India in February was (virtually) nothing. It has just gone through the roof in the last three weeks. Before that, it was nothing..."
Ganguly was non-committal on the prospects of resuming the IPL this year or even which country would host the remainder of the season, stating, "It’s too early to say." Ganguly disagreed that the 'bio-security bubble' in which the IPL was held was breached. "I don’t think so. The report we got is that there’s no breach of the bubble. How it happened is very difficult to say. How so many people are getting (infected) in the country is also very difficult to say," Ganguly told The Indian Express.
Ganguly disagreed that the management of the bio-security bubble could have been better handled, noting infections had occurred in the English Premier League during the second wave in the UK. Ganguly revealed the World Test Championship final match, between India and New Zealand, was on schedule and would be held at Southampton from June 18.
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A BCCI official told Reuters on Wednesday the board faced a loss of about $270 million from the curtailment of the IPL. "The ballpark figure for revenue loss would be to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore ($270 million). Given all our contractual obligations, we are yet to find out what would be the actual figure," Arun Singh Dhumal, treasurer of the BCCI, told Reuters.
The Indian Express had reported on Wednesday the BCCI was contemplating holding the remaining 31 IPL matches after the end of the T20 World Cup in November. The T20 World Cup is currently scheduled to be held in India, but both the BCCI and ICC have indicated it could be shifted if the COVID-19 situation persists. "We are looking to conduct the remaining IPL matches after we host the World T20 in October-November. If all goes well, we will host both the World T20 and the remainder of the IPL in India. The UAE is also an option,” a BCCI official told The Indian Express.
