IND vs SA: No bio bubble for India-South Africa T20Is, confirms Jay Shah
IND vs SA: In a major development, the BCCI secretary Jay Shah has confirmed that there will be no bio-bubble in place for the upcoming T20I series between South Africa and India. In a conversation with the Times of India, Shah has confirmed that the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League will be India’s last competition to be played in the bio-bubble.
It will be the first international series featuring the Indian cricket team where the bio-bubble won’t be implemented in the last two years since the breakout of the COVID-19 in 2020.
With the improving situation of the pandemic in India, the BCCI has already made its intentions clear about having no bio-bubble in future. The bio-bubble life hasn’t been easy for the players and they have coped with a lot of mental stress and fatigue because of the same.
“No bio-bubble for the South Africa series” – Jay Shah
While confirming that the is done with the bio-bubble life and it won’t be there in the Inda-South Africa T20I series, Shah also added that the players still would have to go through the COVID-19 tests.
“If I’m not wrong, the bio-bubble for IPL-2022 was the last. For the India-SA series onwards, players will be tested (for covid), but will not be any bio-bubble,” said Jay Shah in his conversation with the Times of India.
Talking about the challenges of playing in the bio-bubble, Shah accepted that bio-bubble life difficult for cricketers. However, he also added that the players enjoyed their life in the bio-bubble during the Indian Premier League 2022 as their families were allowed to stay alongside them and the BCCI provided them with the best facilities.
“Yes, it’s tough for the players. However, they got a family-like atmosphere inside the hotel bio-bubble. In the case of the IPL, we had hotels dedicated to each team. The whole tournament was held in one place. All the teams had their lounges, and recreational centres (to relax and unwind). So, they also enjoyed it,” concluded Jay Shah.
For the unversed, India are scheduled to play a five-game T20I series against South Africa, starting on the 9th of June.