Sourav Ganguly, BCCI president, pointed out the challenges they faced while organizing IPL 2020 and even admitted that at one point they all were sceptical and anxious whether they would be able to complete the tournament successfully amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
Sourav Ganguly thanked all the players, franchises and BCCI officials for success of IPL 2020 which was the first time IPL was played in a bio-bubble in empty stadiums due to the coronavirus pandemic. IPL 2020 has turned out to be the most closely fought edition with all teams winning at least six matches out of 14.
Sourav Ganguly Praises BCCI For Pulling Off Extravagant IPL 2020
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) deserves a lot of praise for pulling off a massive tournament like the Indian Premier League amidst the coronavirus pandemic thanks to the efforts of over 300 people working day and night to make the tournament a roaring success, according to the former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly who was at the forefront of what transpired especially behind the scenes before and during the 53-day extravaganza in the United Arab Emirates.
IPL 2020 is in it’s final stages with just two matches – the Qualifier 2 and Final left to be played. 8 teams battled it out for nearly two months in the scorching heat of the three venues namely Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah inside empty stadiums to entertain cricket fans all around the world, especially in India.
The tournament brought smile on the faces of people in a difficult year, which has been ravaged by the global pandemic Covid-19 that originated from China leading to deaths of thousands who contaminated the virus.
From living inside a bio-bubble for more than two months amidst strict quarantine regulations to taking all kinds of precautions against Covid-19, the players, franchises and tournament officials left no stone unturned to ensure that IPL 2020 does not suffer and the quality of cricket remains as high as it has been for the last 13 years when IPL was held mostly in India on home and away basis in front of capacity crowd cheering from pavilion.
Sourav Ganguly : IPL Is A Huge Asset For BCCI Who Pulled Off IPL Creditably
IPL 2020 in fact, turned out to be the closest-ever edition with all teams winning at least six matches out of 14 in the league stage. Talking about the success of the tournament this year, BCCI boss Sourav Ganguly pointed out the various kinds of challenges they faced as there was need of a bio bubble which wasn’t needed in past and was scared when before the start of IPL 2020, some CSK players and staffs tested positive for the dreaded virus.
“The world need sport, the world needed life to get back to normal. The entire BCCI team, not just the office-bearers, the employees and staff who work on the ground, they have been in Dubai for the last 2 and half months have pulled off a fantastic thing. The final is not finished yet but I think it was important for BCCI because the IPL is a huge asset for BCCI. From that point of view, we have pulled off a great thing.”
“We did not know whether we would complete this tournament because there was never a bio-bubble created in the past. We took a lot of understanding from the way England hosted the series in England. But this had far more risk, because that was bilateral and here it was about 300 people in Dubai.”
“All in one place, although the Covid numbers in the UAE was much lesser but still you needed one player or one person from the group to get infected. It happened at the start with CSK. It was a bit of a scare for all of us whether this will go through. I spoke to Jay multiple times and he was also worried. We have done it but if something goes wrong, what will happen? But luckily, it has been good so far,” Ganguly said on the final episode of India Today e-Inspiration.
The former Indian captain and ex-Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Sourav Ganguly also thanked all the players, franchises and BCCI officials for making IPL 2020 a huge success.
“I must congratulate the players, to be in a bio-bubble for 80 days is unbelievable. I have been in and out to Dubai. The CSK were staying in the same hotel and it was completely different. I hardly saw anyone in the lobby, only at the time of coming back from practice. Separate floor, separate lifts and separate people for room service. It was unbelievable.”
“And heartiest congratulations to all the players, each team for making this successful, without their discipline, this could not have been successful,” Ganguly said.
Sourav Ganguly who took India to new heights as skipper should be credited for making IPL 2020 a success.