IPL 2021: All you need to know about the COVID-19 SOPs issued by the BCCI

The Indian Premier League (IPL) fever has slowly started catching up. MS Dhoni has already begun his practice for the upcoming season, Shreyas Iyer is excited about the new IPL jersey of his team, and Suresh Raina is gearing up for the 14th IPL edition after missing the last season.

And now, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has chalked out the various guidelines that all the players will be expected to follow ahead of the 2021 IPL edition. The BCCI has reportedly stated that all the players who are directly coming from the series between India and England can join their respective squads without serving any quarantine period.

However, they will have to satisfy all the criteria for moving in the team bus, the chartered flight, or to the team hotel. The BCCI has also added that the protocols for all the crew members must be adhered to if chartered flights are used. It has also been stated that the players can directly join the franchise bubble only if they satisfy the BCCI Chief Medical Officer.

“Players coming directly from the Bubble created for the India vs England series may be permitted to join the franchise squad without serving the mandatory quarantine period, provided they satisfy the criteria of moving directly to the franchise team hotel either in the team bus or on a chartered flight. If chartered flights are used then all protocols for crew members must be followed. If the travel arrangements are to the satisfaction of the BCCI Chief Medical Officer then such players will directly enter the franchise team Bubble without the need to serve a quarantine period or undergo an RT-PCR test,” said a note from the BCCI as reported by Cricbuzz.

A library of cricket balls for IPL 2021

The BCCI has also said that a scientific study has revealed that the risk of transmission through cricket balls is low. If the ball disappears into the stands, then a replacement will be provided from a library of cricket balls. The previous ball will be thoroughly sanitized with alcohol-based wipes and placed in the library.

“New scientific study of cricket balls as potential vectors of the novel coronavirus showed the risk of transmission to be very low. If the cricket ball goes in the stands or outside the stadium, the 4th umpire will provide a replacement from the library of cricket balls. The previous ball when returned will be sanitized with alcohol-based wipes and/or UV-C by the 4th umpire and placed in the library,” revealed the note.

Who are bubble integrity officers?

The BCCI also stated that bubble integrity officers will be employed. These officers will be with every franchise and their job will be to report any type of bio bubble breach by the players to the BCCI Chief Medical Officer.

“Their job will be to report any Bio-secure Environment protocol breaches by members of the franchise team to the BCCI Chief Medical Officer,” read the note.

Will the players be vaccinated?

It looks as if all the players might not be vaccinated ahead of the 2021 edition of the IPL. The note stated that the vaccination program is underway in the country, with the front-line workers, health care professionals, senior citizens, and people with ailments getting vaccinated first. The note concluded by stating that till all these people have been vaccinated, the players will have to wait.

“The vaccination program against COVID-19 is underway in India and vaccines are currently being administered to the at-risk population viz. front-line workers, health care professionals, people over the age of 60 years and those between the ages of 45-59 years who have comorbidities like cardiac ailments, diabetes, cancer, etc. Until most of the population is vaccinated and immune to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, precautions will need to be taken to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the community,” concluded the note.

And finally, as many as 12 bio bubbles will be put in place. None of the BCCI officials will be a part of these bubbles and as a result, none of the officials will be allowed to have interactions with the players. All these protocols have been put in place so that the 2021 edition of the IPL can be conducted in a smooth and hassle-free manner. The 14th IPL edition will take place from 9th April to 30th May 2021.