Recently BCCI president Sourav Ganguly wrote a letter to all state member units to be ready to organize the most anticipated cricket league which is IPL 2020 this year. Ganguly also hinted that the state boards need to be prepared even if we organize this behind the closed doors.
With Ganguly’s statement, it is very clear that BCCI is keen to organize the cash-rich league where you see top cricketers in the world competing against each other.
As the cases in India have reached close to 3 lakh people. It seems that IPL owner has been divided into two groups and also divided in opinions in organizing the IPL behind closed doors or inviting spectators to witness matches.
However KKR CEO Venky Mysore expressed his opinion about organizing this mega event that considering the outbreak of COVID-19 it will not be ideal to host IPL by allowing fans in the stadium as it will increase more and more cases of COVID-19.
He talked about all assumptions in detail “Firstly, the primary focus will be the health & safety of all concerned – fans, players, support staff & everyone involved. So detailed protocol has been developed for that. Secondly, if & when the IPL 2020 season takes place, we all understand that it will be without fans and spectators in the stadium.”
So everyone is not only prepared for that but also believes it is appropriate given the risks of the pandemic. However, many creative ideas are being curated by leveraging technology that will come as a pleasant surprise to fans and the players,” said Mysore as quoted by Times Now.
A statement came from Delhi CEO Dhiraj Malhotra agreed with what Venky said as considering the situation this is the only option left for them to organize the IPL behind closed doors.
Where he said “It seems like the only option at the moment. It will still be profitable as gate money is only 15-20% of our entire revenue. It won’t be the same without fans, everyone can agree on it, but it’s the only option for any sport right now,”. However other franchises like Chennai Super Kings and Kings X1 Punjab franchises want “hosting matches in closed doors should be the last option”.
We can see the difference in the opinion of different franchises also BCCI has to clarify the date of IPL along with the date and procedure( whether it will be played in a full packed stadium or will it be played in closed doors).
