Dubai: Barely after a week it was found 13 members of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) contingent, including two players, were found COVID-19 positive, reports on Tuesday suggest, a crew member of the broadcasting team has found to be diagnosed with the deadly virus.
According to a source, “STAR had asked the first lot of Indian crew members to reach the UAE from India on August 31, after reports of their COVID-19 tests, which were hurriedly done on Saturday on receiving instructions from the broadcaster. But one of them has tested positive and on getting this news the broadcaster immediately sent another instruction to all the personnel to defer their August 31 Emirates flight to the UAE.”
With the tournament is coming closer and the number of cases rising, one would not be surprised if the BCCI makes changes in the IPL 2020 schedule due to the ongoing COVID situation. “Now, major changes could be effected in the IPL following a spate of positive COVID-19 test results of team personnel and now a crew member of the production team,” the source added.
“One could also see changes in the opening game, which was likely to be played in Abu Dhabi, between champions Mumbai Indians and runners-up CSK. One big reason is that the number of positive COVID-19 cases are rising in Abu Dhabi, though initially Dubai and Sharjah were more affected.”
“But the authorities here don’t release the numbers of positive cases separately for all seven emirates; the numbers released are collective for the entire UAE. So, one cannot exactly say which emirate is most affected based on the number of cases. Nonetheless, Abu Dhabi seems to be most impacted as of now, as can be seen from the strict protocols put in place,” a local resident of Abu Dhabi was quoted saying IANS.
The upcoming IPL 13 was scheduled to start from September 19 in the UAE but that looks a little unlikely given the current circumstances to start the IPL.
