Former England Cricket Team captain Nasser Hussain has backed BCCI’s decision of postponing the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 amid the COVID-19 crisis in the nation. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended the tournament indefinitely after several participating players and staff members inside the bio-secure bubble contracted coronavirus. Moreover, India has been reporting over 3 lakh cases for the last ten days, and the suspension of IPL 2021 was on the cards. Hussain believes that the postponement of the tournament was the only option after the bio-bubble was breached. Dale Steyn Takes Sly Dig at Netizen After BCCI Postpones IPL 2021 Amid COVID-19 Crisis.

“There was no option other than to call off the Indian Premier League. Not after the bio-secure bubbles had been breached in so many places. Enough was enough. This has become far bigger than a game of cricket,” Hussain wrote in the Daily Mail.”The players are not stupid nor insensitive. They would have been fully aware of what has been going on in India. They would have seen on their TVs people pleading for hospital beds and oxygen. They would have seen unused ambulances waiting outside cricket grounds and wondered whether it was right for them to carry on playing. And they would have been uncomfortable,” he added.

Highlighting India’s suffering due to widely-spreading disease, Hussain also stated that playing cricket in such times is unpleasant. “It has been unedifying at times watching this tournament when people are dying just up the road from there. I won’t criticise the players, but it had to be called off,” Hussain opined.

The 53-year-old also believes that IPL 2021 should have never been conducted in India, and like the 2020 edition, the competition should have taken place in UAE. “The mistake was made in having the tournament in India in the first place. Six months ago they held an IPL in the United Arab Emirates and it went brilliantly. Covid rates were low and no bubbles were compromised. They could have returned there. Yes, it is easy to say that with hindsight. And India clearly did feel they were through the worst of the virus when they decided to stage this year’s competition,” the Ashes winner concluded.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 05, 2021 04:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).