IPL 2021: Injured players will be treated in COVID free hospital, says medical manager

By Shailesh Yadav
New Delhi [India], April 29 : Amid growing concerns about the viability of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), doctor Yash Gulati opined that the players are safe inside the bio bubble and if a cricketer gets injured he would be treated in a COVID-19 free facility.
"Players and support staff are living in a bubble. They do not come in touch with anybody else including their family members, that's my understanding. The hotel staff where the players and support staff are staying are quarantined and they are not allowed to go out of the hotel. Also when the players travel in a plane for other cities even pilots of planes are being tested," Gulati, who is one of the two Chief Medical Coordinator providing Medical Cover to IPL in Delhi, told ANI.
"They don't have a chance to contract this infection because they are being tested repeatedly untold. This is to prevent infection from reaching them. If somebody comes out of that so-called say security net, then that person will be tested again and again till it is ensured that they are Covid free. So if some cricketer is injured, we will treat him in the covid free facility, he will be isolated and all the Covid protocols will have to be followed until he is tested negative," he added.
In light of the severe COVID situation in the country, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has enforced stricter restrictions in the bio-secure bubble. "Those inside the bubble cannot move outside the bubble and if they come out of the bubble in case of any injury, they have to be isolated in other places for the safety of players and supporting staff," he said.
Gulati who is an overall medical manager/coordinator along with Abhijit Salvi of BCCI said that a team of 12 doctors of various hospitals of the national capital is providing medical cover to IPL teams in Delhi. This medical team has three orthopedics, two intensivists, two eye surgeons, two casualty officers, two dental surgeons with two fully equipped ambulances in the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Elaborating more about the medical cover, Gulati said that all the people who are providing coverage are vaccinated. "We are making sure that the bubble, in which players and support staff are is not breached, and if somebody comes out of that, then they have this arrangement to isolate that person," he said.
The doctor also said he is treating cricketers for free due to his love for the game.
"For last 23 years all the Test and One-day matches happening in Delhi I am providing medical cover on pro bono basis. I never charged them anything because I love the game," said Gulati.
"This time also they asked me to provide medical cover for IPL, but this time situation is different, I am ensuring to the best of my capability that the medical cover is provided following all the Covid protocol very strictly. Our team has 12 members from various hospitals and we are providing our services in rotation," he informed.