Resuming cricket in bio-secure environment unrealistic: Rahul Dravid
Indian legend Rahul Dravid feels playing cricket in bio-secure bubble is not a viable solution. According to him, there will still be a number of risks involved regarding the health of players and staff members. The 47-year-old said resumption of sports will be difficult amid the ongoing pandemic. He added quarantining players before and after the series is not entirely practical. Here is more.
Dravid believes isolating players ahead of every series will be a lengthy process. "A lot of these rules will have to keep changing. It is a bit unrealistic to have things at the level the ECB is talking about for every series (14-day quarantine period before and after every series)," Dravid said. "They are potentially creating the bubble and managing it that way."
"A lot of these things are going to be dictated by the situation. In case of the bio-bubble, you do all the testing and quarantine and then on day two of the Test match, what if one player tests positive? What happens then?" said Dravid.
Dravid hinted at the player guidelines announced by respective countries for resumption of cricket. Recently, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) allowed as many as 30 cricketers to resume training. Director of England cricket, Ashley Giles, put forth the guidelines for players. The International Cricket Council (ICC) also drew up a comprehensive framework, which prohibits saliva usage on the ball.
Dravid believes it is very unrealistic to follow the entire procedure with a busy calendar. "It's going to be unrealistic to be able to do that all the time. With the kind of calendar that we have, the kind of travelling involved, it's going to be impossible to do that," he said. "We're hoping things will evolve and we will find a better way."
While professional cricket has been suspended in UK until July, Giles is hopeful of reinstating cricket soon. Pakistan, West Indies and Australia are due to tour England in the upcoming season. Meanwhile, Giles confirmed a proper risk assessment will be done ahead of the series.
