Many Wankhede Stadium ground staff test positive, officials confident IPL games won’t be hit

Till Saturday morning half the number of ground staff at the famous venue had returned positive tests, raising concerns with just a week to go for matches to start in Mumbai.

The preparation for Indian Premier League (IPL) matches at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium suffered a big setback with the number of groundsmen at the venue testing positive for Covid-19 going up to 10 until Saturday morning. Eight of the 19 ground staff had tested positive until Friday night.

Groundsmen testing positive is a worrying sign as Mumbai is in the middle of an intense second wave of the pandemic. (Representative image)

The ground staff underwent the RT-PCR test over the last week. Three returned positive reports from the test done on March 26. Five tested positive on Friday and two others on Saturday, from tests done on April 1.

The IPL is due to kick-off on April 9 in Chennai. Matches in Mumbai are scheduled from April 10 to April 25 with Chennai Super Kings due to take on Delhi Capitals in the first match at the venue. A total of 10 matches are scheduled to be played at the Wankhede.

This year’s IPL is being organised across six bio-bubbles—Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad.

While IPL matches will be played behind closed doors because of the Covid situation in the country, the groundsmen testing positive is a major worry. Mumbai is in the grip of an intense second wave of the pandemic.

“We will make arrangement for the ground staff at the stadium itself with immediate effect. We have many rooms at the ground where they can be housed,” said an MCA official. “There will be no threat to IPL matches at the Wankhede. We will be ready by the time the tournament starts,” he added.

MCA is also checking with Wankhede curator Ramesh Mhamunkar whether he needs additional staff to get the ground ready. MCA has in-house ground staff at its facilities in the Bandra-Kurla Complex and Kandivili. They can be called up to help with the preparation for the duration of the tournament.