VPL set to start on May 22
Image : Getty
|| CF Correspondent ||
Through the hand of Vincy Premier League [VPL] T-10 tournament in the Caribbean the cricket is going to return among the sports fans.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all kinds of sports has been halted due to the travel restrictions and safety reason. But cricket fans are now going to ease their patience of watching cricket matches live once again as the cricket action on the field is returning again. It might be the first step to getting things back to normal. Though there will be hygiene rules that will be maintained throughout the tournament and would be the first tournament which is also going to be the first to ban players from using their saliva to shine the ball.
There will be six teams in the VPL where each side will have 10-overs to play and it would be played in the eastern Caribbean island country of St Vincent and Grenadines from May 22-31.
At the Arnos Vale Sporting Complex in St Vincent, 30 matches will be played where a total of 72 players will participate in the tournament. Three games will be played in a day and all of them will be streamed live.
Kesrick Williams, Sunil Ambris and Obed McCoy headlining the list who will be seen in the tournament. Also all six franchises have a marquee player each with West Indies cricketers.
Dr Kishore Shallow vice-president of Cricket West Indies feeling the buzz of sports lovers who are thirsty for some cricket and sports and also he said that the limited competition will be held on a 10-day period and will be streamed live.
"It is an exciting time for cricket in SVG, I can feel the buzz of sports enthusiasts who are thirsty for some cricket and sports.
“We came up with this T10 franchise format because of the absence of sports content at this point, and thought that this brand of cricket would be enticing to cricket fans across the globe in a short duration. The competition will be over a 10-day period, and all 30 matches will be streamed live,” said Dr Kishore Shallow, vice-president at Cricket West Indies (CWI).
He also assured that no players would be allowed to use saliva on the ball. And also will follow the hygiene rules and will have physical distancing among players.
"We have formally written to CWI. And I expect to get a positive response from them soon.
"No player would be allowed to use any saliva on the ball," he said.
"Of course, we will be having different dedicated, assigned spaces around the players' pavilion for teams so that they are not necessarily crowded together. All teams would have their own space where they could practice physical distancing," Dr Shallow added.
