IPL Shows That Tournament Bubbles Can be a Success

The 2020 IPL has been a far cry from what we are used to seeing due to the current pandemic but it has been a huge success and has shown the way forward for other tournaments if they need to go ahead in the future but have concerns.

The tournament usually takes place earlier in the year, with this later start being the first of many changes that organisers have had to accommodate. Add to that the fact that this tournament hasn't been played at all in India, its home, and that we have seen no fans in attendance at all, and you quickly understand what a different picture we have had.

With big money players from around the world coming to play, the logistics of running a tournament such as this one under normal circumstances are not easy. This year, that has been taken to a whole new level.

The tournament has been played inside a bio-secure bubble, players had to isolate before entering the bubble to ensure they did not have Covid-19, and they have not been allowed to leave during the tournament. This has been very well observed, and although it hasn't been nice for players to be locked up for two months while they play in the tournament, it has given us the cricket we have all been craving.

The action has been very competitive too, the pitches out in the UAE have certainly helped that, offering something for both the batsmen and the bowlers out there. We have seen some teams score over 200 in their games, while in others we have seen bowlers restrict teams to less than 150.

This has made the games fascinating to watch, and interesting for those using the best offers betting sites have available to aid their betting on the tournament. We see unpredictability in the IPL on a yearly basis when it is played in India and teams have home grounds full of their own fans. The same has been seen in the UAE, despite games in a different country and no home advantage.

There will be hope in the cricketing world that no more tournaments like the IPL will need to be played inside a secure bubble such as this one. However, if the pandemic runs into 2021 for a longer than anticipated period of time, what the IPL has done should show other T20 leagues around the world that they can do the same and put on a tournament inside a bubble with success.

The CPL took place before the IPL in the Caribbean and although the setup was different there, the basic principle of the tournament was similar to the IPL. These leagues have big TV deals, and some large sponsorship deals in place to soften the blow when it comes to a lack of fans. It is not an ideal scenario of course, but 2020 and in particular what the IPL has done, has shown that it can work if we need it to.