Sports Yearender 2020 : Empty Stadiums, bio-secure bubbles ensured the show went on

2020 was the year of a global pandemic with the novel coronavirus bringing the world to a halt and affecting almost all aspects of our lives and sports was no different.

Never has the world seen so many sporting events being cancelled or postponed in a single year, with organisers caught in a dilemma over how to host events.

Even when the sporting events returned, they were played in controlled bubbles, closed stadiums without any spectators.

Players were forced into a new reality as random COVID-19 testing, limited social interaction with teammates and bio-secure bubble became the new normal.

Cricket

All cricketing tournaments were stopped in March as the COVID pandemic spread across the world.

When it returned with West Indies visiting England, spectators were absent and a bio-secure bubble was formed to enforce COVID norms.

The Indian Premier League(IPL) was also postponed to September and it was a monumental effort by the BCCI as it managed to conduct the entire tournament in the United Arab Emirates.

Mumbai Indians were a class apart as they secured their fifth IPL crown in style beating Delhi Daredevils by five wickets.

Former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket in August after a glittering career in which he captained India to the T20 World Cup, Champions Trophy and ODI World Cup.