IPL 2021 should have been held in the UAE: Saha

The 36-year-old was among the players who contracted the dreaded virus before the IPL stumbled to an abrupt halt midway into its 14th season after multiple COVID-19 cases were reported in its bio-bubble.

Becoming the first India player to publicly question, even if subtly, the tightness of the controlled environment, Saha spoke about the bio-bubble breach in India in an interview with PTI news agency and said it would have been better if the IPL was held in UAE, like last year.

Wriddhiman Saha recovers from COVID, to be available for tour of England

“It’s the job of the stakeholders to assess it, but the only thing I would say is that there wasn’t a single individual during our training in the UAE (last year), not even a ground staff.

“Here there would be people, kids peeping from nearby walls. I don’t want to comment much, but we saw how the IPL went off smoothly in the UAE in 2020 and then it started in India this year with cases on the rise,” Saha said.

The Bengal veteran reached his home in Kolkata after completing over a fortnight-long quarantine at a Delhi hotel to make himself available for selection for the upcoming England tour.

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On the bio-bubble he added, “I don’t know what would’ve happened, but definitely I feel it would’ve been better off in UAE this time as well. It’s for the stakeholders to look into it.”

Saha, who plies his trade with the Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise in IPL, had tested positive for COVID-19 on May 4, the day the 2021 edition of the tournament was suspended indefinitely.

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He said he has fully recovered now and is not feeling any weakness.

“I’m doing all normal activities, there’s no fatigue, body ache or any weakness. But I will actually get to know how my body is coping when I get into actual match training mode.”