Olympic Gold Medalist Abhinav Bindra Questions Staging IPL Amid Grim COVID Situation In India

As India battles the worst phase of the epidemic, Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra questioned staging the tournament amid such grim situation in the country.

The Covid-19 situation in India has gone from bad to worse and now more than 3 lakh cases are being reported in the country on a daily basis. Just when it seemed that the Coronavirus situation had come under control in the last few months, once again the number of infected people started increasing in March-April.

Currently, over three lakh Covid-19 cases are being registered every day in India. Many state governments have imposed lockdowns in their respective states.  In the national capital Delhi, the lockdown has been extended till 3 May.

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Meanwhile, IPL 2021 is set to be played inside bio-secure bubbles in 6 Indian states. After first 19 matches, a large part of the tournament is yet to be played. As India battles the worst phase of the epidemic, Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, in his column for The Indian Express, questioned staging the tournament amid such grim situation in the country.

"Cricketers and officials can’t just live in their own bubble, and be totally deaf or blind to whatever is going outside. I can only imagine that while you’re having these IPL games, outside the stadium you have ambulances going to hospitals. I don’t know how the coverage on TV is but I would really appreciate if it’s a little bit muted in nature. I think celebration and everything around it should be at a minimum because you have to show a little bit of respect to society," Bindra wrote for The Indian Express.

"If we show some kindness, it’ll help us heal as individuals and as a nation. That process is not going to be easy. We know the pandemic isn’t ending tomorrow, but we don’t know what the endgame is. So many people are going to lose their lives, so many families are going to be affected… it’s going to be so tough."

From April 28, the IPL action is scheduled to move to the national capital Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium. However, on Sunday, the state government announced extension of lockdown for a week.

The league phase of IPL 2021 will end on May 23.  After this, IPL 14 Playoff matches will be played at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad between May 25 to May 30.