The Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI) on Tuesday postponed a scheduled conference call with the owners of the franchises in the Indian Premier League to discuss this year’s edition of the T20 tournament amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020 IPL, which was scheduled to begin on March 29, was pushed to April 15 after the outbreak of the coronavirus which has brought sporting activities around the world to a halt.
There are speculations that the glitzy T20 league would be cancelled this year in the wake of the rising COVID-19 cases in India.
India is under lockdown after over 500 positive cases were identified, with the death toll standing at 9 as of Tuesday.
On BCCI postponing the con call with franchise owners to discuss IPL 2020, Kings XI Punjab owner Ness Wadia said that there is no point in talking about it as the situation has not improved. “If IPL doesn’t happen, so be it,” Wadia said. “I can't even think about the IPL at this point. It is irrelevant along with everything else.”
The BCCI is expected to make a call soon on the whether the 2020 IPL will be held or not. PTI reported that the cricket body is deferring the announcement in hopes of the situation improving in the coming weeks.
Several sports events, including English Premier League, UEFA Championship and Formula One races among others, have been either cancelled or are expected to be held behind closed doors. The Tokyo Olympics is also at the risk of being postponed amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Over 381,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported worldwide. More than 16,000 people have died from the deadly virus.
-With inputs from agencies
