While the country is in the grip of the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, the cricketers participating in the Indian Premier League (IPL) feel relieved as they are not being asked to travel every other day as they used to during the previous editions of the tournament.
The last two editions of the cash-rich IPL have been held in limited venues ensuring less to no travel exhaustion for players. While the 2020 edition took place in the UAE with only three venues and entailed no air travel and ensured a team's stay in only one hotel throughout the tournament, the 2021 edition is being played in a caravan set-up.
The first batch of matches is being held in Chennai and Mumbai while the second batch of matches will be held in Ahmedabad and Delhi. The action will then shift to Kolkata and Bengaluru before the play-offs happen in Ahmedabad.
Although teams will travel the travel will be much lesser than what it used to be till 2019. "It has been enjoyable. To be in the room and unpack and just concentrate on the task at hand. In previous IPLs, we played one night, traveled the other day.. it was very challenging," said Mumbai Indians' New Zealand pace bowler Trent Boult.
Boult said that while it is a sad and tough situation for most others living in the country, he and other cricketers consider themselves lucky to be able to play the game during these times.
"[It is] Pretty tough for other people. We are fortunate to be playing cricket at this point in time. Great that tournament has been running," added Boult.
Even during the IPL 2020 edition in the UAE, South African cricketer Chris Morris had said that he enjoyed it since there was no air travel involved.