KXIP co-owner Ness Wadia wants daily COVID testing during the IPL

The agonizing wait for the 2020 edition of the IPL is almost at an end with the official announcement imminent. With the UAE all set to host the tournament, the focus now shifts to the elaborate planning to ensure the safety of all the stakeholders. In a pandemic-wary era, one of the co-owners of Kings XI Punjab believes that all the players and support staff need to be tested every day for COVID-19.

"I would want as much testing as possible and preferably daily," Wadia told the Press Trust of India. "If I was a cricketer, I would be very happy in getting myself tested every day. There is no harm in it. Strict safety protocols have to be put in place both for off-field and on-field activities to make the IPL safe and successful. They should not be compromised at all.”

Wadia acknowledged the enormous challenge of accommodating a tournament across three venues, involving eight teams while making sure no safety norms are sidestepped. "Bio-security is something that should be very seriously considered but don't know if it can be implemented in an eight-team tournament," Wadia said. "We are waiting for the SOPs from the BCCI. UAE also has a very high testing rate (472,575 per million) and they have all the technology at their disposal. The BCCI will need the help of the local government in ensuring adequate testing is done.”

This will be the second instance of IPL being hosted by the UAE, although their first tryst with the tournament was partial during the 2014 General elections in India. With no spectators allowed at the venues, the franchises are likely to incur a loss of revenue stream. Wadia hoped that the franchises would be compensated by the BCCI for the same. "The IPL will bring much-needed optimism to the pessimism we live in today. Credit to the BCCI to have a found a window in the current scenario. "I do hope that the BCCI will look at compensating all teams (in case there is no gate money involved),” he added.

[ESPNCricinfo inputs]