3 Indirect positives of Coronavirus forced lockdown on Cricket

The coronavirus threat has stopped all cricket matches across the globe. It was during the middle of the March month, when the COVID-19 threat started looking quite serious which led to the cancellation of two ODI series, one between New Zealand and Australia and another between India and South Africa. Both the series had sorted to be played behind the doors but the outbreak had already become quite severe by then.

The Pakistan Super League also got cancelled mid-way after a few days, which started a chain of cancellations announcements across the globe. The Indian Premier League (IPL) took a major hit. The tournament was going to start on March 29 but was initially suspended till April 15. With the growing number of cases throughout the world, the tournament has now been completely suspended until further notice.

There are chances though that things will return to normalcy in the upcoming months which would then solve the current situation. So, we can expect the normal cricket will resume in a few days’ time. However, this forced break is actually helping many cricketers. Considering how much they have to travel every year, it is a blessing in disguise for them as they are finally spending some time with their families.

Here we bring you three indirect positives for Cricket due to Coronavirus forced lockdown:

1. India might not rest any key player for the Asia Cup

There is a pattern BCCI follows when it comes to the workload management. Players who play consistent cricket through the year in all three formats are generally rested for some tournaments. For instance, going into the Asia Cup 2018, skipper Virat Kohli was having a tough time managing his workload.

After playing the IPL entirely and also playing each and every match of India’s tour of England, Kohli asked for rest for the Asia Cup. Rohit Sharma was named the captain and India went on to win the tournament as well beating Bangladesh in the final. However, it was quite evident that fans and the team were missing the services of the regular skipper.

The 2020 edition is scheduled to be played in the 20-over format with T20 World Cup in sight. The tournament was originally going to be played in the month of September and act as the practice event for the Asian sides going into the T20 World Cup. There are chances that the tournament will be held in the United Arab Emirates and it remains to be seen if the conditions will improve in the near future.

India have won the last two editions of the tournament and would have their full squad ready to perform as all the players would have had enough rest on their back. Rather all the teams will have their full strength squads for the tournament.

2. No top player will pull out from IPL

One thing which everyone has to admit is that international cricket schedules are really packed up now. There is some or the other team who is playing international cricket at any given point in time across the year. So, this leads to many key players to pull out from the IPL due to the injury concerns or to stay fresh for their national teams.

For example, Mitchell Starc hasn’t played in the IPL since 2015. However, he was picked up Kolkata Knight Riders for more than INR 9 crore during the IPL 2018 auctions. Every year, Starc plays a long Australian cricket summer which runs from November to March. Once that it is done, the IPL starts in March or April. Due to managing workload issues, he has not featured in all these IPL seasons even after having a team almost every year. Chris Woakes had also pulled out of the tournament this season after he was bought by Delhi Capitals.

Considering that there is no cricket being played at this moment, all these cricketers will be fresh. Additionally, if the IPL happens just before the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020, then the tournament will act as a warm-up for all the top players. Hence, these reasons will lead to not many pulling out of the competition.

3. Fewer injury concerns for the teams ahead of T20 World Cup

Due to regular cricket, the body of a professional cricketer goes through a lot. Going into a world event such as the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020, several teams have many concerns over the fitness of its players. There have been many instances of important players missing key matches during a world event. It could often hurt the chances of the team.

However, as the lockdown has been extended it seems that players will get a long break ahead of the T20 World Cup. And there would be fewer injury concerns for teams ahead of the tournament. The tournament is scheduled to commence in Australia from October 18.

If the mega event goes ahead as planned and not much cricket is played until then, all the teams will have their players injury free and fresh for the T20 World Cup.