I had written about how important the IPL is at a time when the whole country was reeling under the pandemic and how the IPL sought of brough some semblance of balance in life. It gave the country hope amidst gloom. Unfortunately, the pandemic struck the IPL bubble too and as a result the tournament was suspended. With the calendar of the international players in general and the Indian team in particular being so tight, I did not see whether the tournament can be resumed this year. However, the BCCI seems to have its way. I certainly think that resuming IPL is not that important. Let me try to explain.
The proposed window
So, it is now official. IPL 2021, the tournament that was suspended with half of the games completed, will now be resumed in the month of September. The remaining games will be held in the UAE. UAE were already the front runners if in the event of the tournament being resumed. England, Australia and South Africa being distant second. Having said that, does it even make sense to resume the IPL? Is there really a window during September and October this year?
As we all know, the Indian team will be engaged in a very tough England tour. The tour starts on 2nd June which involves 10 days of tough quarantine which is followed by the WTC final. This will be succeeded by the gruelling tour of England. The first test starts on 4th August with the final test set to conclude on 14th September. The World T20 will be held in India from the 3rd week of October.
The BCCI sees this window, between 15th September and 15th October as the timeframe to complete the remaining games. That is 30 days to play 41 games. However, is it really required to complete the IPL this year? Does the BCCI even care of the players? Aren’t they worried about money rather than the Indian team’s performance in England or the T20 World Cup? The answer to these questions seems to be in the negative.
What would have happened?
If the IPL had gone onto complete the tournament in the month of May, the Indian team would have been severely jaded from the constant travel and high pressure games. They will not have had any time to rest and will have to leave for England right after the IPL final because of the quarantine rules in England. Remember these are strange times. The players are in a bio-secure bubble with less than negligible contact with the outside world. Not to mention their own family. We must also remember that the players had come into the IPL bubble after 5 months of cricket. Starting with IPL 2020, Australian tour and the England series. They were under the same bubble for all these 5 months and with IPL 2021, it would have been 7 months inside the bubble. They had about a week in between to be with their family.
Now that the IPL was suspended, they had the chance to spend close to a month with their family. Not only that but this extra time has also given the team to be prepared for the WTC finals and the England series better. The Indian team were originally scheduled to leave for England on June 2nd. This will be followed by 14 days of hard quarantine in England. Now, instead of 14 days of hard quarantine in England which would have left them out of the bubble only a couple of days before the finals , the Indian team will be under 10 days of hard quarantine in India followed, leave for England on June 2 and their will be another week’s soft quarantine in England. The team has gained a full week to prepare for the finals.
Ross Taylor certainly feels that
For India, IPL finishing early under unfortunate circumstances has probably played into their hands a little. “If IPL would have gone on they would have had a smaller preparation but now they will be a lot more conditioned, their bowlers will have their loads up,”
It was never in the plan of the original IPL. It is something the BCCI must be ashamed of. Not giving their players the best chance to succeed at the finals.
BCCI wants to reduce the tour
There are also reports that the BCCI wants to reduce the tour of England. The 9 days gap between 2nd and 3rd tests. The extra days only to accommodate IPL. BCCI makes me scream at the top of my voice. What do they even think when they ask for such reduction? Why do they always care about themselves only? What aren’t they even concerned about the performance of the national team? If the series is nicely poised at the end of the 2nd test, the 9 days will only give the players some more rest and preparation time to be ready for the rest of the series. It is absolute nonsense and highly irresponsible on the part of the BCCI to even ask for reducing the days.
I would have been much happier if they had asked the ECB to increase the days between the 4th and last test. The BCCI must first think about the performance of the team. It is that which gets translated into revenue.
With such a stupid board, it is only a miracle that the team still wins more than 50% of the games. It is a blessing that the ECB which plans their tours well in advance and sell tickets for the same will not oblige. The dates are set and the tickets are sold. Ofcourse, if the series is going to be closed doors, there is every possibility for the ECB to oblige. The loser is Indian cricket, its team and us the fans. The gainer is certainly BCCI.
Tired Indian team
An IPL right at the end of the England tour will leave the Indian team extremely tired just before the T20 World Cup. If India does not win the World Cup, it is not because of want of effort on the part of the team but it is purely because of the BCCI.
Conclusion
Ideally, IPL 2021 must be scrapped. The BCCI must help the players in every possible way to win the WTC finals, the England tour and the T20 World Cup. Knowing the BCCI, it is a wish that can only be written in water.