IPL 2021: Delhi gears up for IPL leg 2 on a “war footing”; venue to be sealed a week before 1st match: Notwithstanding the unenviable distinction of being the most severely Covid-19 affected city in the country with over 13,500 plus positive cases registered on Tuesday, Delhi gears up on a “war footing” for the 2nd leg of Indian Premier League (IPL) with Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) deciding to seal the venue — Arun Jaitley stadium from April 21 — a week before the start of the first match on April 28.
“The stadium will be sealed for public and outsiders a week before the first match to check the transmission of Covid 19 cases. No outsiders will be allowed inside or in the vicinity of the stadium from April 21 and Police will take over the venue two days ahead of the match. Only broadcasters and very important BCCI and DDCA members will be allowed entry during this period. The entry will be strictly by accreditation card with name mentioned on it. No family members of any official will be allowed,” DDCA joint secretary Rajan Manchanda told Insidesport.co in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.
Elaborating the details of the preparation at the venue, Manchanda said:
“On match days, we are opening only 4 to 5 gates of the 22 gates of the stadium. Around 200 policemen will be required for the security purpose. No outsider or any spectator will be allowed inside the stadium at any cost. There will be 3 dedicated zones 1, 2 & 3 with two tight bio bubbles in Zone 1 & 2. Team A & Team B’s entry gates will be different. All 3 zones of the bio bubble are strictly meant for designated people in that zone. Bio bubble in Zone 1 will consist of IPL teams and support staff, Zone 2 will have a bio-bubble consisting of broadcasters and their support staff and Zone 3 consists of ground staff, housekeepers and 30 members of each franchisee, around 15 BCCI, IPL and DDCA officials.”
The DDCA joint secretary said: “small dedicated teams of BCCI and IPL are already in Delhi. They have been vaccinated and under quarantine in their hotel rooms. They will be overseeing the arrangements and monitoring the situation on a day to day basis. There is a zero tolerance to breach any bio-bubble. All teams will travel in dedicated private jets, the pilot of whom have been vaccinated and quarantined. The drivers and helpers of the chartered buses which will take the IPL players and support staff from the airport to their respective hotels, have also been vaccinated and are going through a 15-day quarantine after which they will enter the bio-bubble. The bus will not enter Zone 1 and will leave the players at the designated gates.”
He further said: “All DDCA officials and staff members have received Covid vaccines. These include DDCA top officials, from members of Apex Council and Board of Directors to the DDCA staff and all employees and safai karamcharis. Earlier also they were thoroughly tested and almost all had come negative. We are working with just 30 per cent staff and will continue to have period covid tests.”
Following is the schedule for the all IPL matches in Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium:
| April 28, Wednesday | Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad | 7:30 PM | Delhi |
| April 29, Thursday | Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals | 3:30 PM | Delhi |
| May 1, Saturday | Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings | 7:30 PM | Delhi |
| May 2, Sunday | Rajasthan Royals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad | 3:30 PM | Delhi |
| May 4, Tuesday | Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians | 7.30 PM | Delhi |
| May 5, Wednesday | Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings | 7.30 PM | Delhi |
| May 7, Friday | Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings | 7.30 PM | Delhi |
| May 8, Saturday | Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians | 7.30 PM | Delhi |
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