Ban on fans, media continues for domestic cricket

When BCCI decided to allow fans and media for the remaining part of the India versus England series, there was genuine optimism that they would extend the same gesture to the Vijay Hazare Trophy, set to kick off across six cities from February 20. Sadly, that’s not the case as BCCI has opted to follow the same SOPs that was in place for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, meaning the ban on fans and media will continue for Vijay Hazare Trophy.

“The SOPs sent by the BCCI for the Vijay Hazare is no different from Mushtaq Ali,” said a source from the Karnataka State Cricket Association, one of the host associations for the tournament. “The SOPs clearly state that no fan nor media must be allowed at the venues. Whatever measures were in place, like testing, bio-bubbles etc, for Mushtaq Ali will remain in place for Vijay Hazare too.”

The move by the BCCI comes as a total surprise considering there’ll be 50% attendance at the stadiums for the remaining part of the India-England series. Even media have been granted access although press conferences will continue to take place virtually. So why the ban on domestic cricket even though the Ministry of Home Affairs has already granted permission to have sporting events with 50% attendance.

“Strong security measures are in place for international matches, whereas that’s not the case with domestic matches. That’s my basic understanding,” said a source from the BCCI. “In case of a Test match, it’s only one match at one venue. We can give our complete attention and it’s easy to manage. But in case of Vijay Hazare, multiple matches will be happening at multiple venues at the same time. We felt it would be risky to allow fans.

“If we decide to allow fans for Vijay Hazare, then we need to get strong security system in place so that fans don’t get close to the players. Given the time constraints we had because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it was hard to put all this together. So we felt it’s better to follow the Mushtaq Ali SOPs. We staged it successfully without a glitch and we want to do the same with Vijay Hazare. Talking specifically about media, I really don’t have an answer,” added the source.

It must be recalled that IPL team scouts were allowed for Syed Mushtaq Ali so they could identify talents for the upcoming auction in Chennai.

Meanwhile, matches in Bengaluru will take place at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Just Cricket and Alur. Defending champions Karnataka have been pitted along Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Kerala and Railways in Elite Group C. They will kick off their campaign against UP on Feb 20.