Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Nawab Malik on Monday confirmed that the matches of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Mumbai will be played as per the schedule and there would be no hurdles. His confirmation comes a day after it was announced that Maharashtra would be enforing weekend lockdown from Friday 8 pm to Monday 7 pm to curb the spread of COVID-19.
As per the quotes in ANI, Malik said, “The permission has been given for the matches with restrictions, the crowd would not be allowed to enter the stadiums. Whoever is participating in the IPL, would have to stay at one place in isolation. There can be no overcrowding, we have made this clear and on this basis, we have given the permission.”
ALSO READ: Rishabh Pant Plays Box-cricket With Ajinkya Rahane And R Ashwin
He further added, “There are many people demanding for vaccination, BCCI has also requested that the players be vaccinated. We also know that there are many people in Maharashtra who are at risk of being exposed to the virus. We also want the age limit to be reduced so that we can vaccinate, but unless the Central Government gives the permission, we cannot do so.”
On Sunday, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had also confirmed that the schedule will be followed despite some of the groundsmen at Wakheded testing positibve of coronavirus. Wankhede Stadium is set to host 10 IPL games this season from April 10-25. The first match in Mumbai is slated to be played on April 10 between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings.
However, the BCCI vice president Rajeev Shukla also asserted that the board will get in touch with the Health Ministry for players’ vaccination.
ALSO READ: Most Catches Taken By A Player In The History Of The IPL
Shukla has said, “In order to cope with this coronavirus rise, I think the only solution is to get vaccinated. BCCI is also thinking on those lines that players should be vaccinated. Nobody knows when coronavirus is going to end and you can’t give a deadline that by this time frame, it will not be there so players can play easily. So, I think now will have to think over that. Vaccination should be done for the players also.”
