IPL 2021: Don’t Know If Crowds Will Be Allowed, Everything Depends On Situation, Says Sourav Ganguly

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly talked about the upcoming 14^th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) and whether the crowds will be allowed in the stadiums or not. India is experiencing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in a few states putting the participation of crowds in jeopardy.

The BCCI had recently announced the IPL 2021 schedule which sees the eight franchises playing matches across 6 cities in India and Ahmedabad hosting the playoffs and the final of the tournament. The IPL 2021 will begin on April 9 and the final will be played at the world’s largest cricket stadium, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad on May 30.

We Don’t Know Yet, It Depends On The Situation- Sourav Ganguly On Crowds In Stadiums

However, one thing that is not clear is whether the crowd will be allowed in the stadiums during the IPL 2021 matches, given a recent spike in COVID-19 cases in India, especially cities like Mumbai and Delhi, which will host the IPL 2021 matches as well.

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly also touched upon the subject and said that crowds in stadiums depended on the situation at the time. He said that the IPL 2020 was played behind closed doors in UAE across three venues and it went off without a hitch.

“We don’t know yet, it depends on the situation. (Last time in) Dubai also it was the same. We started closed doors and we expected it to open up to the crowds, but since it went so well, we did not take the risk of bringing the crowds back,” Ganguly said in an exclusive chat on India Today.

Recently, BCCI had allowed 50% crowd in the ongoing India-England Test series and the T20I series, which will be played in Ahmedabad will also see a 50% crowd in attendance.

“Slightly different than a bilateral, because you know when if you open up to crowds and the team is playing in the middle, it will be practicing outside as well. A lot of these stadiums have practice pitches outside the ground, so the teams also practice there. So to open it up to crowds you also expect the crowds to get closer to the practicing teams. So it could be a bit of a risk,” he added.

The IPL will be hosted by Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru.

Also Read: IPL 2021: Weird Feeling That No Team Will Play Any Match At Its Home Venue – Punjab Kings Co-Owner Preity Zinta