New Delhi, May 6: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly believes the bio-secure bubble, put in place for the IPL 2021 to prevent the players from contracting the COVID-19 virus, wasn't breached. The former India captain, however, conceded that travel could have been one of the reasons how the players were infected.
The IPL 2021 was on May 4 suspended for an indefinite period after players and/or support staff from Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad tested positive for the deadly virus. The pandemic is on the rise in India in the past few weeks as more than 3 lakh people are testing positive and more than 3000 lives are being lost on a daily basis.
In an interview with the Indian Express, Ganguly said it is difficult to say how players were infected.
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"I don't think so. The report we got is that there's no breach of the bubble. How it happened is very difficult to say. How so many people are getting (infected) in the country is also very difficult to say."
When asked if hosting the tournament in one or two cities have been a better option, the legendary India cricketer said when the decision was taken by the BCCI there were not many COVID cases in the country.
"As I said, when we decided all this, there was no (Covid spike) in India. So it's very easy to say now, but when this tournament was organised, Covid numbers (in India) were nothing. We started with Mumbai and finished there without any case. And Mumbai was very high (number of active Covid cases) then," Dada added further.
When asked about the future of the IPL 2021, which now stands postponed indefinitely, Ganguly said it's too early to say.
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Asked about the safe passage of foreign players to their respective countries, Ganguly said: "They will all be fine. They are all looked after and they will all reach home. The Australians will reach the Maldives tomorrow, finish their quarantine and then reach Australia safely. So I don't see any issue."