Hosting IPL not a mistake, insists India cricket chief

AFP | New Delhi

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

India’s cricket chief Sourav Ganguly has defended the attempt to hold the Indian Premier League during the country’s coronavirus emergency, insisting it was not a mistake. The IPL was only called off because the number of cases “has just gone through the roof ”, the Board of Control for Cricket in India president told the Indian Express in an interview released yesterday.

The BCCI suspended the world’s richest cricket tournament on Tuesday after several players became infected.

India is reporting nearly 4,000 deaths and more than 400,000 new cases a day.

Nearly all the foreign stars have since left. Australian players, umpires and coaches were expected to arrive in the Maldives yesterday to wait until they can return home without breaking a contentious ban on people who have been in India.

Asked whether it was a mistake to hold the IPL in India, Ganguly said: “When we decided, the number was not even close to this.

We did the England tour successfully.”

Some fans were allowed into the Ahmedabad stadium for the final two games of England’s four-Test series in March.

The BCCI considered holding the IPL in the United Arab Emirates, as it did last year, but stuck with India because the cases were “nothing”, Ganguly said.

“It has just gone through the roof in the last three weeks.

We discussed the UAE but then decided to do it in India,” he was quoted as saying.

More than 10 players and backup staff have tested positive since the eight teams started gathering for the tournament in bio-bubbles.