AGI – E‘the richest cricket tournament in the world and the sixth sporting competition for economic value behind American football and European football: India bent by Covid, however, is now rebelling against Indian Premier League (Ipl), the two-month championship that has not been interrupted even now that in the second wave of the pandemic the daily infections exceed 300 thousand, with the country’s hospitals collapsing and without oxygen and the crematoria operating 24 hours a day.
The final on May 30th
The tournament involves eight Indian franchises which are competing for the best players in the world and should end with the final on May 30 in Ahmedabad. In 2019 the IPL had moved to the Arab Emirates due to the Covid emergency but this year the organizers confirmed it in six Indian locations, albeit behind closed doors, with bio-safe bubbles and strict rules on quarantine. In this 14th edition about twenty games have already been played and we continue to play in New Delhi and Ahmedabad, but now the pressures for a stop are growing, also as a sign of respect for the victims.
The boycott of the New Indian Express
Il New Indian Express, a Chennai newspaper, suspended coverage of the IPL “until the situation has returned to a semblance of normality”. “In such a tragic moment it is absurd for the country to host the cricket festival in the shelter of bio-safe bubbles,” he wrote.
The economic cost of a stop
Stopping the tournament would have serious economic repercussions: the television rights alone are worth $ 2.5 billion and the IPL employs thousands of people. The T20 World Cup is also scheduled for October in India. Forbe has estimated that the IPL is behind only the American football NFL, the Champions League and the English, Spanish, Italian and German football leagues.
“Distraction for those locked in the house”
Pat Cummins, the Australian champion who had been the most expensive purchase in the 2020 auction, explained that according to the Indian government “playing the IPL offers a few hours of joy and entertainment to the population forced into lockdown”. The organizers said they were confident that the bubbles will guarantee the safety of the athletes and noted that “the matches offer a much needed distraction from the sadness that surrounds us”. It is not excluded that back-up facilities may be used in Hyderabad and Indore, in safer regions, should the situation in New Delhi worsen.
There are those who say no
Some players have already independently chosen to leave the tournament, like Australians Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson and
Andrew Tye or the Indian star of the Delhi Capitals, Ravi Ashwin, who chose to be close to his family.
A global show
The IPL thrills the entire Commonwealth with connected radio and TV and rains of bets from Asia to Oceania, from Great Britain to the Caribbean. In the Twenty20 tournament the elite of world cricket play as the Indian icon Virat Kohli and the English all-rounder Ben Stokes. Each of the eight teams can sign up to eight foreign (non-Indian) players, but no more than four can be selected in a starting XI. The top four teams enter the playoffs and compete for two places for the final.
The big favorites are the reigning champions Mumbai Indians, five-time title winners: Lotus is something of a dream team with Indian spinner Piyush Chawla (the best-numbered batsman or wicket-taker in IPL history) joining an established bowling bout that includes the seamers Trent Boult from New Zealand and Indian Jasprit Bumrai.
.