IPL 2021 | Season will go on as scheduled despite Maharashtra lockdown, asserts Sourav Ganguly

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly, despite an unforeseen surge in Covid-19 cases in the state of Maharashtra, has asserted that the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will go ahead as per the original schedule. The current schedule of IPL 2021 has Mumbai as one of the venues for the first leg of the tournament, but a rapid surge in the number of Covid-19 cases in the city - more than 11,000 on Sunday - left many concerned. To add to that, Delhi Capitals’ Axar Patel - who landed in Mumbai last week - and a dozen ground-staff at the Wankhede also tested positive two days ago, less than a week prior to the tournament, raising serious doubts over the sanity of hosting a part of the tournament in the city.

But despite the Maharashtra state government imposing lockdown in the state, Ganguly has asserted that IPL 2021 will remain unaffected. 

"Everything will go on as per schedule," Ganguly told ANI, reported TOI.

The same was, meanwhile, confirmed to Cricbuzz by an MCA official, who insisted that the Maharashtra lockdown will have no bearing on the IPL. The official revealed that MCA got a call from the city municipal commissioner, who is supposed to have told the association that the lockdown will pose no threat to the IPL. MCA, however, have been ordered to stop all other cricketing activities in the city.

"We have had a call from the city municipal commissioner. The association has been assured that the lockdown measures will have no impact on the IPL games. The other cricketing activities will, however, have to be immediately stopped," an office-bearer of the MCA told Cricbuzz.

"Any cricket activity that is part of a bio-secure bubble will be permitted uninterrupted.”

After a worrying surge in Covid cases, the Maharashtra state government, on Sunday, imposed a fresh lockdown in the state. The lockdown includes a night curfew  across the state from 8 pm to 7 am and a weekend lockdown that will be effective from 8 pm on Friday to 7 am on Monday.