Abhinav Bindra Questions Organising IPL Amid COVID-19, Says ‘Cricketers And Officials Can’t Be Totally Deaf Or Blind To Whatever Is Going Outside’

Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra has questioned the BCCI for organising IPL 2021 amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in the country. Bindra has said that cricketers and officials can’t just live in their own bubble and ignore what’s going on in the country. BCCI has taken a lot of measures to conduct IPL 2021 under total security. So far, BCCI has successfully conducted 19 matches in IPL 2021.

India is witnessing about 3 lakh new Covid-19 cases on a daily basis and the death toll has also increased. The second wave of Covid-19 has given a big blow to the nation. The rise in cases started from March-April this year. In the past 24 hours, 3, 49,691 new patients have been affected by Covid-19 all over the country.

Moreover, 2767 people have lost their lives. At present, there are more than 26 lakh active cases of Covid-19 in the country.

Abhinav Bindra on IPL 2021:

In his column for the newspaper The Indian Express, Abhinav Bindra said that cricketers and officials can’t be totally deaf or blind to whatever is going outside and live in their bio-bubble.

“Cricketers and officials can’t just live in their own bubble, and be totally deaf or blind to whatever is going outside. I can only imagine that while you’re having these IPL games, outside the stadium you have ambulances going to hospitals.

“I don’t know how the coverage on TV is but I would really appreciate it if it’s a little bit muted in nature. I think celebration and everything around it should be at a minimum because you have to show a little bit of respect to society,” Abhinav Bindra wrote.

The 2008 Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra also said that we have to show some kindness as it will help us heal as a nation.

“If we show some kindness, it’ll help us heal as individuals and as a nation. That process is not going to be easy. We know the pandemic isn’t ending tomorrow, but we don’t know what the endgame is.

“So, many people are going to lose their lives, so many families are going to be affected… it’s going to be so tough,” Abhinav Bindra further maintained.

Ahead of the IPL 2021 tournament, cricketers like Devdutt Padikkal and Axar Patel were tested positive for Covid-19. Some support staff members were also tested positive. As a precaution, BCCI is organising IPL 2021 matches under closed doors, keeping the spectators out of the stadium. Players and officials have to regularly go through Covid-19 tests and stay in bio-bubble.