Reacting for the first time since news broke of several Chennai Super Kings team members, including two cricketers who tested positive for Covid-19, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly said it must be seen whether the three-time champion CSK can start IPL 2020 according to schedule.
IPL 2020 is scheduled to start from September 19 in the United Arab Emirates, where the eight franchises with their support staff and players have been established in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
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Things were going according to plan ahead of Friday night when a pacemaker from India who is a member of the CSK team and some other team members was confirmed to have tested positive. A day later, another CSK cricketer reported positive.
Read also | Suresh Raina retires, CSK concerns grow as players grow wary
BCCI confirmed that after several rounds of testing, 13 people tested positive for Covid-19, casting a shadow over the timely start of the 13th IPL, the schedule of which has yet to be released by the board.
“I cannot comment on the situation of CSK. We’ll see if they can start as scheduled. I hope the IPL goes well. We have a long schedule for the tournament and I sincerely hope that everything goes well, “Sourav Ganguly told the Times of India.
CSK’s concerns don’t end there. Her top scorer, Suresh Raina, decided to fly home and fail this year’s IPL citing personal reasons.
Read also | ‘Sourav Ganguly didn’t suit the T20 format’: former KKR coach
“Senior spinner Harbhajan Singh, who is in India and did not participate in the CSK preparatory camp in Chennai (15-20 August), is concerned about participating in the tournament or not,” said a source close to the player. He is expected to join the team in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
Many players, mostly foreigners, have yet to join their teams in the United Arab Emirates, and some of them will surely find themselves in a dilemma like Harbhajan of whether to play or not amid the pandemic. The league was first postponed from April to May and then moved out of India.
However, Ganguly, who was filming for a commercial movie at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, said that people will have to come to terms with the new reality.
“The whole world is dealing with the crisis. Football and cricket matches are held in empty stadiums around the world. We will also have to accept that reality.
“I have started to work and do our work. I am no longer a full-fledged athlete, I am half and half. I’m balancing family, cricket, BCCI and media work, ”he said.
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