• Wion
  • /Sports
  • /BCCI president Sourav Ganguly provides update on IPL 2021 scheduling amid spike in COVID-19 cases

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly provides update on IPL 2021 scheduling amid spike in COVID-19 cases

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly provides update on IPL 2021 scheduling amid spike in COVID-19 cases

Sourav Ganguly opens up on IPL 2021

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday provided an update on the schedule of the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in India. The IPL 2021 is scheduled to commence on April 9 but with India registering over 1 lakh coronavirus cases, questions were raised whether IPL 2021 would go ahead as per schedule. Ganguly has now cleared the air regarding the doubts.

Ganguly’s comments come after the Maharashtra government announced weekend lockdown to curb the spread of the dreaded COVID-19.

"Everything will go on as per schedule," Ganguly told ANI.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Maharashtra is set to undergo strict weekend lockdown from Friday 8pm to Monday 7 am, said state Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik adding that essential services and basic transportation such as buses, trains and taxis will be allowed.
Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium is to host 10 IPL 2021 matches from April 10-25 with the first match scheduled to be played on April 10 between Delhi Capitals and three-time winners Chennai Super Kings.

ALSO READ:What does cricket’s law book say on Fakhar Zaman-Quinton de Kock run-out incident?

Four franchises -- Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings, and Rajasthan Royals have set up their base in Mumbai as of now. Whereas the fifth Mumbai-based franchise Kolkata Knight Riders will move to Chennai after playing their season opener against SunRisers Hyderabad on April 11.

The BCCI is also mulling players’ vaccination ahead of the showpiece T20 tournament. The BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla has said that the board will get in touch with the Health Ministry for players' vaccination.

ALSO READ:IPL 2021: Rajeev Shukla confident that tournament will go ahead 'without any problem'

"In order to cope with this coronavirus rise, I think the only solution is to get vaccinated. BCCI is also thinking on those lines that players should be vaccinated. Nobody knows when coronavirus is going to end and you can't give a deadline that by this time frame, it will not be there so players can play easily. So, I think now will have to think over that. Vaccination should be done for the players also," Shukla told ANI.

IPL 2021 is set to start from April 9 with RCB taking on MI in the season opener in Chennai.