Finally, the day has arrived when the boredom will vanish with cheers of celebration. Cricket fans can cherish and enjoy the slugfest with RCB facing defending champions Mumbai Indians at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
The surge in COVID-19 cases did not leave the players untouched. Coronavirus cases have come up both in Chennai and Mumbai – the venues for the first leg of the IPL. While many have questioned if the league can indeed be held without hurdles in such trying times, Star India Sports Head Sanjog Gupta believes a successful IPL is just the signal the country needs.
“IPL happening in India, would bring a certain level of relief may be subliminal, but it does deliver that to millions of people across the country. The third and final cause is that as the country moves forward with its vaccination drive — in an attempt to completely overcome the challenge of the pandemic — the IPL happening at the same time again, to some extent restores positivity in the environment, and that things are truly moving forward, and progress is being made. It brings a lot of positivity, optimism, and hope, which the country needs in times like these,” he said.
Cricket amid pandemic is boon as well as bane at the same time. For spectators it might be a blessing, however, cricketers have shared their ordeal about ‘life in a bio-bubble’.
Bio-Bubble
Opening up on the challenges faced by players ahead of the upcoming IPL 2021 season, RCB skipper Virat Kohli shared how it was difficult for cricketers to keep themselves motivated for a long time, especially being stuck in a bio-bubble.
A bio-bubble in cricket is nothing but a safe and risk-free environment where all the concerned stakeholders such as players, officials, administrators, broadcasters, etc. reside to prevent any physical interaction with the outside world.
The RCB skipper feels players are more match-ready this year for the IPL as they have got used to the life of bio-bubble plus the cricketers have a considerable amount of game time which they were devoid of prior to IPL 2020.
RCB anthem IPL 2021
“ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ಲಯನ್ಸ್ ಕೇಳಿ ಇವರ ಘರ್ಜನೆ.” 🎼🤩
A new season, and a renewed will to #PlayBold!#WeAreChallengers #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/o75RBX4rk5
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) April 9, 2021
“Last time we got together way before the tournament started. So things probably were not as smooth as they are now. There is not much worry about whether people are gonna be bowling or batting well,” said Kohli.
Both the teams are expecting an exciting contest. “I truly believe that we have to focus on our skills and our strengths as a side. Mumbai, obviously, is a champion team they know how to win this competition, we know the strength of their team so if focus too much on that then we are not gonna focus on what we can do. At the end of the day, you are playing cricket which is played on the day in the moment and you could be better than any other guy in the world at that moment,” Kohli said in a video posted by the RCB on their official Twitter handle.
RCB Vs MI
In the last five encounters, Mumbai Indians hold a slight advantage over RCB, winning three times compared to RCB’s two. Last season, the first leg was won by Bangalore in a super-over thriller but Mumbai got the better of Bangalore in the second leg.
🗣️ “We’ll go in and put on a good show.”@ishankishan51 shares his 💭 on our opening encounter against @RCBTweets! 💙#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #MI #MIvRCB #IPL2021 #KhelTakaTak pic.twitter.com/kCGM9QiCRD
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 9, 2021
(With ANI inputs)