Abhinav Bindra targets BCCI, IPL in times of Covid

NEW DELHI: India's only individual Olympic gold medallist, Abhinav Bindra, on Monday questioned the continuation of Indian Premier League (IPL) when the Covid-19 pandemic has virtually crippled India, saying Indian cricketers and officials "can't just live in their own bubble, and be totally deaf or blind to whatever is going on outside".

Bindra, who won the 10-metre air rifle gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, also wondered why the Indian cricket board, worth Rs 14,489.80 crore, the richest in the world, hasn't contributed so far to the Covid cause, like vaccination during the current wave.

"Cricketers and officials can't just live in their own bubble, and be totally deaf or blind to whatever is going outside," he wrote in a hard-hitting piece in the Indian Express newspaper.

"I can only imagine that while you're having these IPL games, outside the stadium you have ambulances going to hospitals. I don't know how the coverage on TV is but I would really appreciate if it's a little bit muted in nature. I think celebration and everything around it should be at a minimum because you have to show a little bit of respect to society," wrote the 38-year-old ace shooter.

The Zirakpur-based Bindra, who is a member of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Athletes' Commission, came down heavily on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), worth Rs 14,489.80 crore as per its latest 2018-19 balance sheet, available with IANS, for not rising to the occasion and being counted.

"Secondly, if I was the BCCI president and had the capability -- and I understand the IPL is not a charity -- I would definitely give a large amount to do, say, the vaccination right or help out in any other way. This is one way to acknowledge that to conduct IPL right now is a huge privilege and everyone should act responsibly," wrote Bindra, without mentioning the name of BCCI president Sourav Ganguly.

So far, four players -- Ravichandran Ashwin, Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson, and Andrew Tye -- have withdrawn from the IPL for "personal reasons" as the number of Covid cases in India continue to go up.

Kolkata Knight Riders' Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins also briefly touched upon the issue of conducting IPL in a time like this while announcing that he was contributing $50,000 to the PM CARES Fund of India. IANS

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