IPL set to lift the spirit of sports crazy Lucknow
LUCKNOW: The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League, beginning on September 19 in United Arab Emirates (UAE), could prove to be the stressbuster for the 37 lakh plus entertainment-deprived population in the city in the times of coronavirus pandemic.
With defending champion Mumbai Indians facing Chennai Super Kings in the opener on a Saturday evening in Abu Dhabi, people locked inside their houses since March 25, would find some solace in the form of cricket.
In fact, the IPL 2020 has raised new hopes among the people, including young couple Aditya and Palak, who have neither visited parents at Noida nor held parties with friends since March 25.
Their ‘forced’ routine lifestyle, involving morning breakfast, cleaning of utensils together, lunch at odd hours, continuously checking of mobile phones for an update from offices and working on laptops for hours, catching up with web series — has become all boring.
“Even our six-year-old son Ankit is puzzled with our routine. But now we are hoping for a change as we will watch the IPL matches ” said Aditya, a data analyst professional on Tuesday.
“Spending time at shop that too without doing much work throughout the day is something very painful, but now I will have the IPL matches live on my TV at shop,” Rahul Gupta, a readymade garment shop owner said.
Terming the IPL a great stressbuster, Deepti Sekhia a Mumbai based psychologist, said: “Watching IPL or any other sports series with family can provide a positive atmosphere especially in times of pandemic.”
Child psychologist Surendra Dutt said: “Indulging with family in watching game like cricket can motivate kids to pick up the game and practice.
This will help keep them away from gadgets.”
The IPL is also going to open a few business opportunities for T-shirts printer and maker Tandon brothers Vikas and Vishal of ‘Sayahi’.
“We had some good business during the west Indies-Afghanistan series in Lucknow last year,” said Vishal.