The BCCI has taken all safety measures and remains hopeful that the IPL 2022, which starts on Saturday, doesn’t face any hiccup as the tournament did last year. The IPL 2021 was suspended mid-season when a number of players and support staff in four different franchises tested positive for Covid-19; the second half of the tournament was then completed in the UAE.
This time, though, as the IPL 2022 returns to India, the board decided to not involve any air travel – which it felt could have been the reason for the covid-19 transmission last year – and host all the 70 league games in four venues across Mumbai and Pune.
The schedule for IPL 2022 has been drafted in such a way that all teams will play four matches each at the Wankhede and DY Patil, and three each at the Brabourne and the MCA Stadium, Pune.
Further, the board has outlined the procedure to be followed if a player, squad member, or a family member in the bio-bubble tests positive for the virus during the tournament.
Any individual who tests positive during IPL 2022, will have to isolate for a minimum of seven days, and during that period, he will be tested on the sixth and seventh days. For him to re-enter the bio-bubble, he will have to provide two consecutive negative RT-PCR tests taken 24 hours apart and that there are no fresh symptoms for more than 24 hours, and that there have been no use of medications for more than 24 hours.
But what happens if multiple players of a team are tested positive in IPL 2022?
In that case, a franchise will be allowed to field a team if there are a minimum of 12 players available for them, including at least seven Indians and one substitute. If a team has fewer than 12, the BCCI will attempt to reschedule the match for later in the season.
Even if that is not possible, the matter will be referred to the technical committee of the IPL, and the decision of the committee will be “final and binding”. Earlier, when the rescheduling of a match was not possible, the franchise unable to field a team would lose the points to the opponent.
Also, the board has decided to put strict sanctions on anyone found breaching the bubble during IPL 2O22.
For the first offence of bubble breach, a player will have to quarantine for 7 days, without pay for the number of matches missed, and for the second offence, he will be suspended for one game, without pay, after the completion of the 7-day quarantine. A third offence will lead to the removal of the player for the rest of the season and no replacement will be allowed.
If a family member of a player break the bio-bubble rules: for the first offence, 7-day quarantine for both the family member and the relevant player; a second offence will lead to the removal of that family member from the bubble for the rest of the season and another 7-day quarantine for the player.
Featured image source:
