IPL 2021 is set to kick-off on April 9 in Chennai while the Mumbai leg of the matches is scheduled to be held between April 10 and April 25 with the first match to be played between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals at the venue.
A total of 10 matches will be played at the Wankhede Stadium. A total of six bio-bubbles are being organized for the IPL, with Mumbai being one of the venues.
IPL 2021 Suffers Setback As 8 Of 19 Groundsmen Tested Covid-19 Positive
The preparation for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 matches at the Wankhede Stadium suffered a setback when eight of the 19 groundsmen at the stadium tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.
While the IPL 2021 will be played behind closed doors because of the Covid situation in the country, the groundsmen testing positive is definitely a worrying sign and a cause of concern. Mumbai is in the middle of an intense second wave of the pandemic. Most of the groundsmen don’t stay on the ground and have to commute daily, mostly by train.
Mumbai Cricket Association Plans To House The Groundsmen At The Stadium Itself Immediately
The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is now planning to house the staff at the ground itself till the matches are over. With a week to go for the start of the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League, Wankhede Stadium, which is one of the IPL venues, could miss out on hosting matches in the premier event. Eight groundsmen at the Wankhede have tested positive for the coronavirus and that has created panic among the officials.
“We will make arrangements for the ground staff at the stadium itself with immediate effect. We have many rooms at the ground where they can be housed,” said an MCA official. “There will be no threat to IPL matches at the Wankhede. We will be ready by the time the tournament starts,” he added.
MCA was also in talks with Wankhede curator Ramesh Mhamunkar about whether he needs additional staff to get the ground ready. MCA has in-house ground staff at their facility at BKC and Kandivali who can be called over to help with the preparation for the duration of the tournament.
Wankhede is set to host 8-9 matches in IPL 2021 this season, but with the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the state, BCCI may likely have to move IPL 2021 out of Mumbai. There is no official confirmation on this. 19 groundsmen working at the iconic Wankhede went through RT-PCR tests (Covid tests) last week. Three of them tested positive on March 26, while five more tests conducted on April 1 returned positive results.
The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League will be played across 6 venues in India from April 9 to May 30. Chennai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru have been zeroed in by the BCCI.