No spectators will be allowed in stadiums during England tour of India

The wait of seeing a cricket match live continues for the Indian cricket fans as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has denied the possibility of allowing the spectators in the stadium during the long England tour of India. English players are scheduled to lock horns against Men in Blue from February 5 to March 28 in four Test matches followed by five T20 Internationals and three One Day Internationals. 

It was speculated that a certain number of fans will be allowed in the stadiums to witness the live games as India’s central government has given necessary permissions for the presence of the audience in the sporting activities. However, BCCI has decided against this and will be hosting the entire tour in a biosecure bubble across three cities namely Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Pune. 

The Indian board took this decision as they don’t want to take any kind of risk with the safety of the players. Also, both the squads will be undergoing harsh quarantine and rounds of novel coronavirus tests before entering the bio-bubble. 

“The teams will be in hard quarantine. BCCI doesn’t want to take any chance with the home season so close. So, crowds will not be allowed,” the BCCI official said as quoted by TOI.

BCCI to allow the Indian players to visit their homes 

Also, keeping in mind the mental health of the players, the Indian board will give permission to the players, who haven’t gone out of the bio-bubble since August, to visit their respective families and spend some quality time with them before rejoining the bi0-bubble for the marquee England series, starting from February 5 with a Test match at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. 

Many Indian players including Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Siraj, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, and others haven’t returned to India since August 2020 and are constantly living in a biosecure bubble. 

The players had flown to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in August to participate in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and had then boarded the flight to Sydney to take part in the Australia tour comprising three-match T20I and ODI series followed by four-match Border Gavaskar Trophy.