Published - 22 May 2021, 11:36 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 03:23 PM
Wriddhiman Saha. (Photo: BCCI)
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha opined that the IPL 2021 editions would have been better off being played in the UAE as well, given that the last edition in 2020 went off without a hitch.
Wriddhiman Saha (Image Credit: Twitter)
Saha’s comments come after the IPL 2021 edition had to be called off after he and 3 other players were found positive for COVID-19 along with two coaches and multiple support staff. Finally, with the situation spiraling out of control, the BCCI and IPL GC decided to postpone the IPL 2021 after only 29 matches were played.
Only Thing I Would Say Is That There Was Not A Single Individual During Our Training In UAE During IPL 2020: Wriddhiman Saha
Wriddhiman Saha opined that the IPL 2020 was carried off successfully behind closed doors and in bio-bubble in the UAE where the matches were played in three cities- Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah.
“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.
Washington Sundar[photo: Twitter]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.”
Saha returned to his home in Kolkata after completing over a fortnight-long quarantine at a Delhi hotel to make himself available for selection for the upcoming England tour. The Indian team for the England tour has assembled in Mumbai to do 14 days of hard quarantine before flying to the UK for the World Test Championship Final and the Test series against England.
The veteran wicketkeeper-batsman has been overtaken by Rishabh Pant as the first-choice glovesman in Test cricket after the Delhiite’s performances with the bat and the gloves in the Test series in Australia and at home against England.