IPL 2021 suspended: ‘We discussed about the UAE but then decided to do it in India,’ says Sourav Ganguly

IPL 2021 suspended: ‘We discussed about the UAE but then decided to do it in India,’ says Sourav Ganguly

Saurav Ganguly

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly explained why they opted to organise IPL 2021 in India despite lakhs of daily coronavirus cases reported in the country. His remarks came after the 14th edition of the tournament got suspended after as many as six COVID-19 cases came positive from four franchises. 

Ganguly mentioned that the board went ahead with India as the venue because the number of cases in India was ‘virtually nothing’ when the tournament began. He added that the management thought of the UAE but then decided to do it in India as they had just successfully hosted England across all formats.

“No. When we decided, the number was not even close to this. We did the England tour successfully,” Sourav Ganguly told Indian Express.

“It was discussed, but the (COVID-19 cases) in India in February was (virtually) nothing. It has just gone through the roof in the last three weeks. Before that it was nothing. We discussed about the UAE but then decided to do it in India,” Sourav Ganguly added.

‘Everything was happening around the world’: Ganguly

IPL 2021
IPL 2021

The 48-year old mentioned that major football tournaments like the English Premier League and La Liga continued despite coronavirus outbreak in their respective nations. 

“As I said, when we decided all this, there was no (Covid spike) in India. So it’s very easy to say now, but when this tournament was organised, Covid numbers (in India) were nothing. We started with Mumbai and finished there without any case. And Mumbai was very high (number of active Covid cases) then.

“That answers your question (when asked if BCCI’s criticism was unfair). The English Premier League (when the UK was in lockdown), La Liga, everything was happening around the world,” the 48-year-old asserted.

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