2020 took a huge toll on sports activities across the world, be it domestic competition or international events. The Grand Slam got cancelled while the quadrennial event was shifted to 2021. Apart from the Olympics and Wimbledon, many other competitions were also postponed including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia, which will now be played in 2021 in India. The 2020 edition will now be held in Australia in 2022.
Sports returned with a new normal which included face-masks, hand-sanitizers and no crowd in the stadiums and above all — a bio-secure bubble. Players and support staff were restricted to their hotels with no one allowed to leave or enter the hotel. Regular Covid-19 tests also became part of athletes’ schedule.
The Indian cricket team returned to action after an eight-month hiatus in an ODI against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. India lost the series by 2-1 but came back strongly to claim the T20I series 2-1 before heading to the longest format encounter.
Cricketing action will return to India in February when Virat Kohli and boys host England for five Tests and a limited-overs series.
2020, a year of uncertainty and unprecedented times, taught us about how it is all about adaptation and with talks of the vaccine against the dreaded COVID-19 finally ready, 2021 will surely deliver the expected results to the fans. But the ‘new normal’ is here to stay as the virus is still in action.
