Ahead of IPL Governing Council meeting, questions on Covid-19 testing and bio-bubbles
It's expected that protocols for the tournament in the UAE will be finalised at the meeting on August 2
One of the key concerns of the franchises ESPNcricinfo spoke to is the rules surrounding quarantine for squads, and the protocol to be followed if one of the squad members tests positive. Given that the onus of keeping squads safe and in their biosecure bubbles is likely to rest with the respective franchises, they want clarity on the steps to follow if someone tests positive during the tournament - will the entire squad have to be tested immediately, will the squad be isolated in the same hotel if other teams are staying there too, will the next match of the said team be cancelled or put on hold till everyone is tested? What if someone tests positive on the day of the match? In short, the impact of a positive test on the player, team and tournament at large.
The Governing Council is likely to finalise how often squad members will have to undergo Covid-19 testing in the UAE, but will the testing be supervised by the BCCI or will it be the sole responsibility of the franchises?
The first step for the franchises is getting to the UAE. Some franchises have informed the Governing Council that they wish to land there by August 20 or 21 to give players at least three weeks to train for the tournament, having not played, or even trained properly, for months.
Another big concern surrounds the South Africa players potentially pulling out of the IPL, like they did for the CPL. What will be the rules regarding replacement players, whether it be overseas players pulling out or getting injured during the tournament? In the case of the former, picking replacements from the auction pool could lead to a potential clash among the franchises. For example, Royal Challengers Bangalore have the smallest squad (21) with three South Africans - AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Chris Morris - and the franchise will be desperate to strengthen their squad if these three big names pull out.
Another possible issue for franchises to deal with is that the England-Australia ODIs could end up being in the second week of September. If, as believed, the IPL insists on all squads assembling at the same time, and with the IPL opener set for September 19, it could rule the England and Australia players out of the first few matches - like David Warner said this week - or worse.
Each franchise always has extra net bowlers at their home grounds in India while the IPL is on. With biosecure bubbles and many other restrictions this time, how will these be arranged for, for such a long tournament in the UAE, for all eight teams? West Indies and England had extra squad players in their bubbles for the recent Test series; will the franchises be allowed to do the same? If yes, do they need to pick net bowlers from a particular pool or can they pick anyone and include them in their bubble after having them tested?
IPL players will be expected to board buses nearly every day for training and matches, and be in proximity to numerous hotel staff, caterers, security officials etc. What will be done to maximise the squads' safety, keeping in mind the possibility of players' families also travelling, the large size of the squads, and the long duration of the tournament? Will the bus drivers and hotel employees also be part of some bubble or does the Governing Council have a workaround for this?
Vishal Dikshit is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo