The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 had to be shifted from India to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to the raging coronavirus pandemic in the country. With the fear of the dreaded coronavirus already looming large, and add to that the turmoil of leaving their home comforts, the stress on players will probably be immense. However, the management of all the teams seem to be doing all they can to make it a stress-free environment for all their players. One look at the Mumbai Indians' team room only goes to show that the franchises are pulling out all the stops to keep their members happy.
From pool tables, to multiple gaming options, Mumbai Indians' team room is a thing of beauty.
In the video, as soon as Krunal Pandya laid his eyes on the sprawling team room, he lets out a "wow".
Check it out for yourself:
Former India pacer and current Director of Cricket Operations for Mumbai Indians, Zaheer Khan, also spoke the plush team room and how it helps in team bonding.
"Well, we always focus the team room for sure because this is where a lot of bonding happens. Players spend a lot of time here, so it's with a view that it's going to be three months. It's going to be a long time, and all the families and players can get together. So this is going to be, pretty much, our zone," said Zaheer Khan in the video posted on Mumbai Indians' official Twitter handle.
"One of the biggest missing factors is going to be out 'Paltan' cheering us from the stadium. So we just wanted to have a message conveyed to our players as well as our whole squad, the support staff that no matter where you are the 'Paltan' is always going to be there. And you can see it with this wall here dedicated purely for our fans and for the players to know that their support in our victories and ups and downs, is always there," he added.
Mumbai Indians had their first training session in the UAE last week.
Many players including captain Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan, Krunal Pandya as well as the support staff and others were seen at the Abu Dhabi Cricket Academy.
IPL 2020 is set to begin on September 19 with the final on November 10, however, the complete schedule for the tournament is yet to be announced.