2021-04-08 12:01:56
CHENNAI: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday said this year’s Indian Premier League will be competitive just like the one last year in UAE since teams won’t be having any home advantage for the second edition in succession.
“There is nothing quite like playing at the Chinnaswamy Stadium (RCB’s home ground in Bengaluru) in front of your home crowd. I understand and agree with that. Obviously, the fans are going to miss watching us play, such is the time that we are in right now,” said Kohli on the eve of his franchise’s season-opener against Mumbai Indians.
“But the good thing is that we are back in India and one more positive thing about this edition like last year is that there is no home advantage. Everyone is playing at neutral venues and the strength of your squad really comes to the fore. This is precisely why last IPL was competitive and until about the last 3-4 games, everyone was in the reckoning to qualify [for the playoffs] which I think is great for the tournament. The viewership went through the roof which I expect to be the case this time around as well. The (2021) tournament is going to be competitive,” added Kohli, who is also the India skipper.
Kohli said that RCB are one of the strongest sides at this edition and hopes his side will do well.
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In Pics – Bio-bubbles, training sessions and the COVID scare: Build-up to IPL 2021
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The 14th edition of the world’s biggest T20 franchise cricket tournament — the Indian Premier League is all set to commence from April 9 with the defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the tournament opener in Chennai. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL)
After conducting a successful 13th edition in the United Arab Emirates, the BCCI this time decided to go ahead with the tournament on home soil with 6 cities — Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, hosting the cricketing extravaganza. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL)
The players from the 8 different franchises began assembling at the venues post March 20, while the members of Team India, who were engaged in a bilateral series with England only joined their franchises after wrapping up the series after March 28. (Photo credit: MI Twitter)
After completing the necessary quarantine periods, the players and support staff joined their respective bio-secure bubbles and began training for the fiercest T20 franchise battle.(Photo credit: RCB Twitter)
While MI, RCB, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders have current bio-bubbles setup in Chennai. KKR moved to Chennai from Mumbai where their initial bubble was created. The other four teams — Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings have their current bubbles in Mumbai for the first phase of the tournament. (Photo credit: CSK Twitter)
Maintaining mandatory Covid protocols, players began their hustle at the training facilities inside their bio-bubble while chalking out strategies with the support staff. (Photo credit: RR Twitter)
While Team India players had regular match practice — coming into the tournament after playing a couple of bilateral series — it was the domestic players, who had to sweat it out even more in the nets to get back into the groove for the tournament. Apart from the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy, domestic players were not exposed to much match practice in the past 6 months. (Photo credit: KKR Twitter)
While domestic Indian players, Team India and England internationals began their preparations, the other foreigners too steadily arrived in India. After completing their quarantine successfully they too joined their respective squads. (Photo credit: RCB Twitter)
Players flew in from all parts of the world — the Caribbean, Australia, England, Afghanistan, Bangladesh. A few international players (South Africa) left their international assignments midway to join their franchises in the IPL. (Photo credit: DC Twitter)
With a steep rise in COVID-19 cases across India, conducting this year’s IPL will not be an easy task for the BCCI. Positive cases in different franchises have put the organisers and owners on their toes. With a few ground staff members, players and support staff members returning positive test results, there is some amount of nervousness. The protocols in the bio-bubbles have been made stricter to try and ensure there are no more positive cases. (Photo credit: AFP)
While RCB’s Devdutt Padikkal contracted the virus before joining the team, MI’s scout and wicket-keeping consultant Kiran More tested positive for COVI-19 while being with the squad. DC’s Axar Patel and RCB’s Daniel Sams are the other players, who are currently battling the virus. KKR’s Nitish Rana also tested positive for the virus but joined the squad after testing negative. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL)
Daniel Sams will in all probability miss RCB’s tournament opener against MI on April 9. DC’s Axar Patel is likely to miss Delhi’s first match on April 10 in Mumbai . Apart from them, a few foreign players too will be missing out on a couple of matches due to the quarantine policy but it is expected that all the 8 franchises will be at their full strength in the second week of the competition. (Photo credit: BCCI/IPL)
“Having done well last year, in such a competitive scenario, as a side we are confident that we are the strongest squad this time around. This time we are also going to have a great season. It is something we are all looking forward to being part of. Just playing in set venues with four teams is going to nullify the home advantage every team used to have and we will really have some competitive excitement,” he added.
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