IPL 2020 witnessed the ‘new normal’ in the times of the coronavirus pandemic. The opening game between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at the Sheikh Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi was played with no spectators due to the coronavirus restrictions. However, there were still some arrangements which gave cricket a glimpse of a normal that existed before the coronavirus pandemic.
From the electronic boundary boards, cheerleaders would cheer virtually every time a boundary or a six was hit. There would also be a synchronized cheering of the fans played out from several of the loudspeakers that were present in the ground.
In order to give cricketers a feeling of the competitive action, the BCCI had already planned four fan walls in all the three stadiums in order to maintain the liveliness of the match. The system has been made such that there will be thunderous applause after all the boundaries and ‘roar’ of the crowd will be heard after each dismissal.
As per reports, the Indian cricket board has collaborated with BookMyShow, which allows fans to be virtually present during the course of the match. The fans can log in and register with the website to follow up with the procedure.
Chennai Super Kings fight back
Mumbai Indians were inserted into bat and they started off aggressively with Quinton de Kock in fine form. However, Chennai Super Kings dismissed Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock in quick succession before Suryakumar Yadav and Saurabh Tiwary steadied the ship. Tiwary, who had enjoyed a good association with Mumbai Indians at the start of the decade, looked in good touch. When Yadav departed, Hardik Pandya came in and he signaled his intention with two sixes.
However, Faf du Plessis’ brilliant fielding helped Chennai Super Kings recover and they managed to restrict Mumbai Indians to 162/9. However, on a pitch that is sluggish, this is a good total and Mumbai Indians will fancy themselves of winning an opening game for the first time in a very long time.
