IPL 2021: Amidst player pull outs, BCCI says the tournament is on

Bengaluru, April 26: Amidst many players pulling out with anxiety over the over the Indian Premier League's (IPL) 2021 bio-secure bubble, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) insisted that the tournament will go on.

Monday (April 26) saw a spate of withdrawals from IPL 2021 including that of ace Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who wanted to support his family in their fight against the raging pandemic.

Earlier Australian trio -- Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson -- too withdrew from the tournament, citing personal reasons, though it is presumed that the recent surge surge in COVID-19 cases in India played a major role in their decision.

Ashwin, who competws for Delhi Capitals, decided to take a break saying that his family is currently putting up a fight against COVID-19 and he wants to support them. He hopes to return to the side "if things go in the right direction".

However, Tye (Rajastan Royals) and the Royal Challenger Bangalore duo of Richardson and Zampa withdrew as apprehension set in after a couple of weeks went by smoothly for the league being held in front of empty stands across nine venues.

Against this backdrop, the BCCI insisted that the event will continue and it would not come in the way of those wanting to leave.

"As of now, IPL is going ahead. Obviously, if anyone wants to leave, that's perfectly fine," a senior BCCI official told the PTI news agency on conditions of anonymity.

While leg-spinner Zampa was bought for Rs 1.5 crore, RCB spent Rs 4 crore to buy pacer Richardson at the players' auction. Richardson featured in one match for RCB, returning figures of 1 for 29 in three overs against Rajasthan Royals in Mumbai, but Zampa could not make it to the playing XI this season.

The 34-year-old Tye had also not got a game with the Royals so far and his contract with the franchise was worth Rs one crore.

India recorded over 3 lakh daily cases for the past few days and the health infrastructure is struggling to handle the rise with shortage of oxygen and some crucial medicines adding to the crisis.