IPL Players begin ‘exodus’ due to India’s Covid crisis, viewership down from last year
With players withdrawing and the death toll spiralling, the financial justification is all that is keeping the show going for BCCI who says 'we will keep IPL going'
Many players have started leaving the tournament citing India’s COVID situation which has become a source of pressure for BCCI and the IPL Teams as well.
Ravichandran Ashwin has decided to cut short his Indian Premier League (IPL) season to support his “family and extended family”. Australian medium-pacer Andrew Tye, as well as compatriots, leg-spinner Adam Zampa and seam-bowling all-rounder Kane Richardson, are returning home as well. Earlier, England batsman Liam Livingstone had pulled out citing bubble fatigue. A grim Covid scenario outside has started to penetrate the IPL bubble.
“It’s challenging and things have to be managed for the players and staff, and we know the horrific nature of what’s happening outside the bubble,” Morgan said after playing a match-winning knock against Punjab Kings on Monday.
While some of those players withdrew citing the difficulty of the biosecure-bubble life, and others because they did not want to be stuck in a foreign country as their homelands began to shut down borders, Ashwin’s departure is particularly relevant.
Since this edition of the IPL began on 9 April nearly 30,000 people have lost their lives in India to Covid-19, according to official figures. If anecdotal evidence is anything to go by, the number of deaths caused by the virus might be exponentially higher.
Many countries, including Australia and UK, have either banned or reduced the number of flights from India. It has made a lot of players anxious about returning home after the IPL. The T20 league now has 14 Australian players including big names like Steve Smith, David Warner, Glenn Maxwell and Cummins, as well as Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting.
The viewership for IPL too has reduced despite major parts of the country still under lockdown.
The opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 fell short of the kind of viewership IPL 2020 season opener received, according to the latest BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) data.
According to BARC, IPL 2020 opening match was viewed by a humongous 158 million viewers, 21 per cent higher than 131 million viewers recorded in IPL 2019 opener. On OTT platform Disney + Hotstar, IPL 2021 opener peaked at 6.7 million whereas, in IPL 2020, it was 8.4 million.
