IPL 2020 Will Shatter Television Viewership Records- Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, is expecting the television viewership ratings to soar through the roof and shatter all the previous records in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League [IPL].

The 13th edition of the cash-rich IPL will take place in the bio-secure environment of the United Arab Emirates between September 19-November 10. And with the tournament taking place behind closed doors, Ganguly believes that fans will be clued to their television sets to witness their favorite teams and cricketers.

“Crowds will watch it on television…they (the broadcasters) are actually expecting the highest rating of IPL this season because they believe if (people) don’t turn up in the ground, they will be actually watching on their television sets. There is a positive in everything,” Sourav Ganguly was quoted as saying  while delivering an online lecture as part of the ‘Symbiosis Golden Jubilee Lecture series’ by the Indian Express.

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‘I am sure everything then will be back to normal’- Sourav Ganguly

When asked about players will feel while playing in front of empty stands, Sourav Ganguly said-

”Because of the COVID and infection, you don’t want people to be too close to each other, but very soon you will see there will be 30 per cent people in the ground with social distancing. They are properly tested and allowed to enter the ground. But I think that is going to happen over a period of time. It is actually an effort to bring life back to normal. This will go on for another five-six months till the vaccine comes and I am sure everything then will be back to normal,” he asserted.

The former Indian captain added that the current situation due to Covid-19 is nothing but a ‘small bump’, adding that the world will soon get back to normalcy.

“This is just a virus which is already weakening and we will hopefully get past it. These are small bumps in our life, and we have to get past it. We could have easily avoided the IPL…but then, that’s what we humans are and that’s why we have survived all the difficult times. There have been wars, which people have come out from, there have been other bugs which people have come out from over the years,” Sourav Ganguly said.

“It is only because mankind, people like you and me, and all of us in this discussion have the mental mindset to say ‘hey listen if people are pushing us to the wall, we will find a way back and get life normal’. I think that is important,” he added.

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