Hope everything will be fine for 2 months, Ganguly reacts to India hosting IPL 2021 despite COVID-19 surge

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly has said hosting the Indian Premier League (IPL) amid a pandemic is quite challenging and he hopes to see everything go fine in the next two months.

The IPL was shifted to the UAE last year because of the COVID-19 scenario in India but the tournament returned to India ahead of the 14th edition. The last month or so has witnessed a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases in the country with Maharashtra being the worst-hit state. As a part of the bio-bubble protocols, the BCCI has decided to host the tournament across six cities, including Mumbai.

Ahead of the IPL 2021, which underwent on April 9 (Friday), as many as four players, along with some ground staff and production staff tested positive for COVID-19.

"It is quite challenging during COVID to host the IPL in terms of cost and return. The last time the tournament was held in UAE, it was quite challenging. We didn't know so much then. The bio-bubble will be here as well, as it was in UAE. Hope all goes well," Ganguly told India Today in an interview on Friday.

Ganguly went on to praise the players for their patience and commitment towards the tournament despite being in the bio-secure bubble for over two months now.

"I have said before that the cricketers are remarkable. They have been in the bio-bubble for so long. Hats off to the cricketers. What they are doing is not easy.

Staying the same way for so long. Quite stressful. On behalf of the BCCI, I would like to thank the cricketers. They are doing great work besides playing cricket," added Ganguly.

The former Indian captain also ensured that the Indian cricket board is doing everything to ensure the safety of the players, support staff and officials who are working so hard towards making the tournament amid these tough times a success.

"Since the emergency, since all the atrocities were going on it became quite difficult. However, we have taken the best medical advice. We talked to the doctors. We also did domestic cricket by creating bio bubbles. There was no corona case. I hope everything will be fine here for the next two months. That's what I'm hoping for. Fingers crossed," said Ganguly.