As the situation seemed to worsen until the last week, when the city saw a tremendous surge in infection numbers, it is now believed that the Wankhede Stadium has returned to normalcy as “The stadium is ready for the IPL 2021.”
The news of the situation being under control, as per reports, was broken by a BCCI deputy, Prashanth Rao, who is responsible to oversee the preparation of the ground and the pitches. The stadium that is scheduled to host ten games between April 10 and 25, was subject to reconsideration after ten groundsmen tested positive for covid-19.
As per previous reports, the replacement for the infected staff, the BCCI had to turn up to Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) for recruitment from a stadium in Kandivali, and subsequently accommodate them in Garware Club inside the stadium premises to be confined till April 25. While talking to Cricbuzz, an MCA official said, “The ground is just 50 metres away from the club and they will be confined to the stadium complex till April 25.”.
For the teams stationed in Mumbai for their games at Wankhede, they have been given a special allowance by the state government to practice at the stadium. Maharashtra government has imposed night curfews for weekdays and complete lockdown on weekends. However, IPL teams have the leeway of training outdoors during these lockdown and curfew timings. Players and teams have been granted free movement from the stadium to their respective hotels.
Meanwhile, Wankhede Stadium being used by the four teams stationed in Mumbai for their practice. Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals both did their part of training in the stadium on Wednesday. The other two teams, Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings too held training sessions on Thursday. However, as for Friday, CSK and DC will be practicing for the final time before their opening game of IPL 2021 on Saturday.