Picture Credit: SportsTiger
Cricket fans in India must be aware of Sudhir Gautam. The 40-year-old man is easily Indian cricket's biggest fan and travels with the team for all their matches and witnesses it from the stands. However, the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic meant that fans were not able to watch their favourite stars play from the stadium which implied that even Sudhir was not able to cheer for the Men in Blue.
But as the upcoming home series against New Zealand marks the return of fans to the stadium after the dreaded second wave of the pandemic in India, it is being learned that Sudhir has been denied entry to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium for the opening T20I between the two teams at Jaipur. The match is the first of the three-match T20I series which will be followed by a couple of Test matches.
The Jaipur game is scheduled on November 17 with the first ball set to be bowled at 7:00 pm (IST). While a capacity crowd was allowed at the Jaipur stadium, Sudhir has not been allowed to enter. This is because of the strict COVID-19 protocol.
Sudhir expressed his disappointment for not being allowed to enter the stadium during Team India's practice session and said this is the first time it has happened to him.
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Meanwhile, there is another huge development expected in cricket during the time of Coronavirus. Recent reports suggested that cricket could move into a Premier League-type model moving out of the current bio-bubble system. It is being learnt that the bio-bubble issues were discussed at International Cricket Council’s Chief Executives Committee meeting on Friday and it was here the members agreed that the current bubble model was not a practical idea in the long run.
A source close to the ICC has suggested that a Premier League-type model where there is no bubble as such but all the stakeholders of the fixtures get tested regularly, could be the way to go about things. The decision is a significant one since bubble life has been impacting the mental health of cricketers, especially players of teams with packed cricketing schedules. Issues such as bio-bubble fatigue and other concerns have also been cited by various players.