Chennai Super Kings (CSK) was supposed to play their next game in IPL 2021 against the Rajasthan Royals on May 5. CSK were the betting favorites for this game with odds of 2.20 while the Royals were underdogs with odds of 1.80. However, this match will not take place on May 5 as CSK has informed the BCCI that they will not take the field against the Royals.
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CSK Concerned Over COVID-19
India is fighting an uphill battle with COVID-19 as over 400,000 people are testing positive on a daily basis and over 3,000 individuals are dying from COVID. The BCCI was under pressure to close the IPL but they decided to proceed with IPL games, claiming that they had a safe and secure IPL bubble in the six cities where IPL games are taking place.
However, three individuals from the CSK franchise have tested positive this week. Reports suggest that CSK bowling coach L Balaji, one bus attender and CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan have all tested positive. In order to avoid any more positive cases, CSK has asked the BCCI to reschedule their game against the Royals which was scheduled to take place at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
The BCCI has a tough situation on its hand because this is the second IPL game that is not taking place this week. On May 3, the game between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) did not proceed as two players from KKR tested positive. KKR players Sandeep Warrier and Varun Chakaravarthy tested positive and have been sent into quarantine.
CSK Asks BCCI To Follow Protocols
When CSK asked for its game against the RR to be rescheduled, it informed the BCCI that CSK wanted to stay in line with the BCCI protocols that require any players who have come in contact with infected individuals to go through a mandatory six day quarantine process. CSK said the BCCI had a clear protocol of how many COVID tests needed to be carried out during the quarantine process and how many of them needed to be negative before they were given the green light to take the field again.
CSK’s next match is against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 7 which is also scheduled to take place in the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. From the way things appear, CSK might not be ready to take the field in this game which will make it very difficult for the BCCI to reschedule these games as the 2021 IPL schedule was a very tight schedule from the start with the IPL final set to take place on May 30.
The BCCI is yet to release a statement on the CSK vs. RR match as of this writing and has also not provided any information as to when the KKR vs. RCB game and CSK vs. RR match will be rescheduled.
BCCI Planning Single IPL Bubble In Mumbai
While multiple fronts put pressure on the BCCI to abandon the 2021 IPL as India battles a surge in COVID cases, the BCCI is pretty confident that it will still be able to pull off the IPL in the midst of all the chaos. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the BCCI is thinking of scrapping the six city IPL bubble now that KKR and CSK members have tested positive.
The current plan is to get all of the teams to move over to Mumbai and create one IPL bubble which will remove the need for travel and keep players a lot safer. The BCCI will most likely have to schedule double header games to make up for the cancelled games.
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