the other thing about the bcci which runs _ the bcci which runs the ipl is that it has close links to—— related by blood ties to some of the senior figures in the bjp and it has almost become a bit of an arm of the indian government. so in some respect it has had to move in alignment with the government which has been slow to realise the scale of the disaster. to realise the scale of the disaster-— to realise the scale of the disaster. , ., ., , disaster. there is another side to this, obviously. _ disaster. there is another side to this, obviously. india - disaster. there is another side to this, obviously. india is - disaster. there is another side to this, obviously. india is a i to this, obviously. india is a cricket loving nation and probably extremely welcome distraction for many people at a difficult time. if you cut off something like is itjust adds to that oppression of what is going on in the country, possibly. it is going on in the country, possibly-— is going on in the country, ossibl. ., ~ ,, , possibly. it also keeps people at home and _ possibly. it also keeps people at

obviously, the situation in india is worsening with the pandemic there, but the bcci, the organisersf the indian premier league, say the league will continue, it will carry on, but there must be growing pressure on them now.- on, but there must be growing pressure on them now. yes, there is. i think it is — pressure on them now. yes, there is. i think it is a — pressure on them now. yes, there is. i think it is a pressure _ pressure on them now. yes, there is. i think it is a pressure of _ pressure on them now. yes, there is. i think it is a pressure of a _ i think it is a pressure of a different kind inasmuch as i think the degree of sensitivity, or the lack of it, is what is really coming back and hitting them in terms of public response. it is not so much about the league itself carrying on, because i think in all fairness, for the vast multitude of people, this offers two to three hours of cricket —related, sport —related entertainment. they can stay home, watch, watch as a family, and it just takes their mind off may be temporarily from all that is going on around them. is tempo

the general manager of operations for the indian cricket board — the bcci — says the indian premier leagueournament to continue. covid—19 cases continue to soar in the country, as it deals with a second wave of the pandemic. but dhiraj malhotra told the bbc�*s stumped podcast that the ipl will continue. we are monitoring the situation very closely. we have assurances from the government that they would like to continue. we have both areas, the positive that at least they come home, the matches have played, there is some normalcy, there is some kind of live sport and entertainment, which kind of takes away from reality and the gloom that is prevailing in india right now. that is one school of thought. the other is one school of thought. the other is that it is pandemic time, should we do it or not? it is a catch 22. for now the action continues and england vice captainjos buttler hit 41 for the rajasthan royals. but it wasn't enough to stop a seven—wicket defeat to the mumbai indians. buttler made his total offjust 32 balls, but an unbeaten 70 from the south african quinten de kock helped m

the other thing about the bcci which runs the ipl is that it has close links to the bjp.ated , related by blood ties to some of the senior figures in the bjp and it has almost become a bit of an arm of the indian government. so in some respect it has had to move in alignment with the government which has been slow to realise the scale of the disaster. there is another side to this, obviously. india is a cricket loving nation and probably extremely welcome distraction for many people at a difficult time. if you cut off something like this itjust adds to that oppression of what is going on in the country, possibly. it also keeps people at home and they are being encouraged to do that. the argument in favour of the ipl continuing is mainly that it would make no difference for it to cease at this point. there would still be a pandemic in india there would just be no cricket to distract us from it. at the same time, however, there is i think a growing disquiet about the resources being ploughed into the ipl to keep the show on the road and the fact that, essentially, this is a