- Ask any of the millions of cricket lovers in the country, they will be not holding back while mentioning to bring more and more cricket on despite being bombarded with a surfeit of matches. The demand for consumption is insatiable in the context of Indian cricket since cricket-crazy millions are prepared to welcome whatever is on offer. Even the pandemic-induced challenges have not deterred the Indian fans from consuming the fare with open arms and glee. No wonder, the highly lucrative Indian Premier League T20 tournaments were hugely successful despite virus striking at regular intervals. Of course, the Test match series between India-Australia, and India-England too were gobbled up with absolute delight as the statistics suggest.
PC: macrovector
- Thrown in-between was the World Test Championship summit clash between India-New Zealand and the World Cup T20 amply demonstrating that the fans’ love for the game has not diminished one bit. Mind you, the economies of world cricket largely hinge on Indian fans showing enthusiasm as the humongous revenue generated here mainly sustains the game. It is proved beyond doubt that the health of world cricket is directly dependent on the vibrancy of Indian fans who help in raking up billions. No arguments over this fact for sure. As such, any contests involving Team India is a sure-shot blockbuster and none of the opposite cricket boards can afford to lose out on the series from going ahead, virus or no virus, if you please.
- Against this backdrop, the Indian team embarking on three Test-series and ODIs to South Africa will be wholeheartedly welcomed by the latter even as the Omicron variant of the virus poses tremendous challenges. As you are aware, the variant first emerged in South Africa and is currently raging there though the experts reporting preliminary findings to mention that the infection appears to be mild, unlike the Delta variant. Now that Team India has already landed in the African nation, the cricket series will go ahead unless something drastic happens in the ensuing days forcing the organizers to do a rethink. We all know what happened in England when Team India players refused to play the last Test owing to fear of contracting the virus.
PC: aadi
- A lot is riding on the Test series for the beleaguered Cricket South Africa. The CSA has already announced that the first Test starting on Boxing Day will be without spectators and a call on the remaining Tests will be taken subsequently. Also, the announcement about isolating the confirmed infected players alone, and moving on with the game without forcing the close contacts to isolate as well if they return with a negative report, shows how desperate the CSA is to ensure the matches are played. It all depends on the players feeling secure and safe. In the case of any cluster outbreak, there are chances that the series may have to be called off keeping the larger interest of players’ safety. Hopefully, the much-awaited series will carry on without any hurdles.
