IPL 2021: ‘I feel it would have been better off in UAE’ – SRH’s Wriddhiman Saha

IPL 2021: ‘I feel it would have been better off in UAE’ – SRH’s Wriddhiman Saha

Wriddhiman Saha in the IPL

Sunrisers Hyderabad‘s wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha asserted that the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 would have been better off in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He cited the example of the previous edition where all things ran without any hitch in the middle-east.

The 14th edition of the cash-rich league was midway postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak in various franchises. Wriddhiman Saha too had tested positive for the novel coronavirus during this season. Apart from Saha, players like Varun Chakravarthy, Sandeep Warrier and Tim Siefert (KKR) and DC’s Amit Mishra too had shown positive results. Moreover, CSK’s batting coach Michael Hussey and bowling coach L Balaji were also infected with the virus.

Saha mentioned that there was not even a single individual around during their training in UAE last year. On the other hand, people were peeping from nearby walls while players were practising on the grounds in India. However, he pointed out that there was no bio-bubble breach by any member but must have been some opening. 

“It’s the job of the stakeholders to assess it, but the only thing I would say is that there was not a single individual during our training in UAE (last year), not even ground staff. Here there would be people, kids peeping from nearby walls. I don’t want to comment much but we saw how the IPL went off smoothly in UAE in 2020 and then it started in India this year with cases on the rise,” Saha was quoted as saying by the news agency PTI.

On the bio-bubble, he added, “I don’t know what would have happened, but definitely I feel it would have been better off in UAE this time as well. It’s for the stakeholders to look into it.”

Wriddhiman Saha dissects cover’s tag for KS Bharat

Wriddhiman Saha
Wriddhiman Saha

The 36-year old’s next assignment is the much-awaited ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final. However, it’s difficult for him to get a chance as the team management is likely to pick Rishabh Pant who’s performed exceptionally well in recent months.

In a recent interview with Sportskeeda, Saha also talked about the selection of KS Bharat as his cover for the WTC final and England tour.

“I didn’t have COVID-19 during the last series but KS Bharat was still with the team. So what do you say then? Now that I contracted the infection, people are labelling him as my ‘cover’. But I feel they have picked a third keeper bearing in mind the risk outside.

“As we saw, anybody can get the infection from anywhere and two keepers are anyway a must these days. So if one keeper falls sick by any chance, then we will be in a spot of bother. I think that’s the reason why they have decided to travel with the three of us,” Wriddhiman Saha said.

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