Wriddhiman Saha questions IPL's bubble tightness, says 'UAE' was a better option to host

The 2021 IPL was cut short after several players started testing positive for the novel Coronavirus and it led to the indefinite postponement of the league, something which had never happened before as far as the IPL is concerned. The cash-rich league was taking place at a time when the second wave of COVID-19 had wreaked havoc in the country with many deaths reported from different parts of India owing to the lack of Oxygen support. 

SRH wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha, who had himself contracted COVID-19 during the league, suggested that UAE was definitely a better place to host the league in comparison to India. Last year's IPL was hosted in the Middle East successfully after India couldn't stage the league due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country with various restrictions in place.

"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 told PTI, reported TOI. 

Saha also revealed possible bio-bubble breaches and recalled how this year's IPL wasn't as tight as it was in the UAE last season. However, he also added that these things are there to be contemplated by the stakeholders, who organize the league. 

"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 a 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 said.

Saha will be travelling with the Indian Test team to England as a backup gloveman to India's rising star Rishabh Pant. India will be playing the WTC finale against New Zealand next month before featuring in the five-match Test series against hosts, England, in August.