The Indian Premier League’s (IPL) chief executive told the players a week ago that they should play for “humanity” and that they will be “totally protected” inside the tournament’s biosecure bubble. The bubble has cracked, the tournament has been postponed indefinitely, and the franchises and BCCI are on the verge of losing over Rs 2000 crore. The IPL 2021 was postponed on Tuesday due to a slew of optimistic cases among players and personnel. So, what went wrong with the bio-bubble breach?
Restrata, a specialist firm well versed in monitoring devices and bio-secure technologies, handled the bio-bubble in UAE for IPL 2020. The IPL opted to go local this time, entrusting the operation to hospital vendors and research laboratories, who were supposed to duplicate it.
Since the IPL 2021 was to be held in six cities, air transport was the main concern. COVID-19 was contracted by two teams and one team coach when travelling via the airport terminal, according to NDTV. Teams had requested tarmac entry from state governments, but it was refused, putting the players’ safety at risk. There was no air transport in the United Arab Emirates.
Players’ tracking devices were sometimes unreliable. They were imported from a Chennai-based firm that failed to meet the necessary requirements, leaving BCCI with just guesses as to when and how the feared virus may have infected the players.
Checking and quarantine procedures for those outside the bubble that were critical to the tournament’s operation were a major point of contention. Land employees, hotel staff, ground catering, net bowlers, DJs, and drivers are among these individuals. Multiple cities meant a bigger population that was constantly evolving.
In the United Arab Emirates, management systems were more stable.
Food supply from the outside was permitted until last week.
Instead of a central body like IMG overseeing the tournament, BCCI left it up to each franchise to build its own bubble for teams, members, and employees.
Despite the growing number of Covid cases in India, the BCCI’s top brass was adamant about holding the tournament in the region. Like last year, the IPL governing council and franchises suggested a transfer to the UAE.