Due to the global pandemic, several major cricket series and tournaments had to be canceled or postponed. Indian cricket has also been affected a lot by this disease. Due to this, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had to host the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 on UAE soil.
Health concerns forced the 2021 T20 tournament to move from India to UAE. Even the T20 World Cup could not happen in India in 2021. The pandemic has hampered Indian cricket big time, but BCCI president Sourav Ganguly thinks a bad phase is over and upcoming events won't be affected.
“I think we have gone past it and the worst is over. Hopefully, we can get back IPL in India next year because it’s India’s tournament and it’s a different atmosphere when it’s played in India. International cricket is on. We hosted New Zealand. We are going to South Africa. West Indies and Sri Lanka will follow. So I think the worst is over,” Ganguly said.
“We have succeeded in completing the IPL in spite of all the Covid issues by taking it to Dubai. The sports authorities in Dubai have been exceptional. Our domestic cricket is on in full flow like it was before. Last year was a bit of a break because of the Pandemic. We have almost completed every tournament. The Ranji Trophy starts in January. The junior cricket is on. And there have been no positive cases (of Covid) so far,” he added.
The new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, Gangulysaid it doesn’t worry him as of now. “Not yet. We will assess the condition in due course and see what happens,” he added. Speaking of the national team’s schedule, India will travel to South Africa for three Tests and as many ODIs, starting from December 26.