Mumbai: The Maharashtra government cleared the decks Monday for the IPL to take place in this COVID-19 ravaged city. It allowed teams to practice after 8.00pm and travel to their respective hotels during the night curfew. The night curfew has been imposed to contain the pandemic COVID-19.
Due to the massive surge of COVID-19 cases in this city and other parts of Maharashtra, the Maharashtra government Sunday announced ‘Break the Chain’. Under this policy section 144 and night-curfew from 8.00pm to 7.00am on weekdays has been imposed the entire state. The guidelines are to be implemented from this evening.
However, the Maharashtra government has allowed the IPL teams to practice beyond 8.00pm, provided there is ‘strict adherence to bio-bubble’. The event starts in Chennai, April 9.
“Considering the match-timings, teams practicing at the CCI and MCA are scheduled to practice in 2 sessions – from 4.00pm to 6.30pm and 7.30pm to 10pm,” wrote Srirang Gholap, Under Secretary of the Disaster Management, Relief and Rehabilitation department, in a letter issued to the BCCI.
Mumbai is scheduled to host 10 matches of the IPL at the Wankhede Stadium. Nine of them are scheduled to start at 7.30pm. The first game at the Wankhede will be played April 10 between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Delhi Capitals (DC). It will certainly be an interesting game as CSK will be led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and DC by Rishabh Pant, a player who has been tagged a successor to the former Indian captain.
The city recorded more than 11,000 COVID-19 cases Sunday.
“…permission has been requested for teams and the IPL staff (to) be allowed to practice inside the grounds after 8.00pm and they may be allowed free movement from the ground to their respective hotels after the said time. Accordingly, permission is being hereby accorded for the said request subject to scrupulous adherence to the bio-bubble,” stated the letter.
In a related development and a major relief to the Mumbai Cricket Association, most of Wankhede’s 10 ground-staff members, who had earlier tested positive for the virus, have now tested negative.