In many aspects, the thirteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) differed from prior editions. Though the Mumbai Indians successfully defended their championship by defeating the Delhi Daredevils in the final, the tournament’s second-most successful club, the Chennai Super Kings, failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in IPL history. In addition, because of the epidemic, the whole event was relocated from India to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and held seven months later. A total of 60 matches were played at three separate locations in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah, comprising 56 league matches and four play-off games.
The fact that this year’s IPL was played in front of empty stands, on the other hand, set it apart. While supporters in India lost out on the opportunity to shout for their favorite franchises inside the crowded stadiums, the players, too, missed having their fans and cheerleaders rooting for them at the top of their lungs.
To keep the fatal COVID-19 illness from spreading, all of the players, as well as the support staff and broadcasting crew, had to stay in a bio bubble for the length of the tournament. Mr. Sourav Ganguly, President of the BCCI, subsequently remarked that living in a bio-safe environment for such a long time was psychologically taxing and praised the players for their efforts.
Kevin Pietersen, one of the most popular overseas IPL players during his playing days, uploaded a video with his fans in which he took the audience through a typical day in his life while working on the IPL’s broadcasting crew in the UAE.
Pietersen recounted his own experience of living within the bio bubble, what he does to stay healthy, and how he keeps himself busy at the hotel when no one is permitted to leave in his video journal. He also provided some behind-the-scenes footage of himself providing live commentary from the comm-box and pitch reports before the start of a match.
Kevin stated at the start of the film that all of the participants and commentators had to stay in a bio-secure bubble and could only hang out among themselves. Kevin also discussed the time he used to get up during the IPL, his early morning fitness workouts, and the regular nasal testing for coronavirus that every one of them is expected to go through on a daily basis.
Kevin was also spotted putting together his work equipment, which included his accreditation card, headphones, microphones, and so on, before heading to the stadium. The next photos show Kevin executing his broadcasting duties at the stadium, including pre-match pitch reports and live commentary inside the commentary box while the game is on.
