IPL has been suspended indefinitely after multiple COVID-19 cases have been reported in its bio-bubble, the BCCI has informed. The apex body was forced into the decision as COVID-19 breached the bio-bubble with at least four players and a coach currently returning COVID-19 positive results.
"The tournament has been suspended indefinitely. We will try to conduct the event in the next available window but this month is unlikely," league chairman Brijesh Patel told PTI.
"...we will take stock if we can find a suitable window later during the year. It could be September but these are all speculations. As of now we are not conducting it any further," BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla told PTI.
On Tuesday, Sunrisers Hyderabad's Wriddhiman Saha and Delhi Capitals' spinner Amit Mishra tested COVID-19 positive forcing both the teams into a six-day quarantine as per BCCI rules. SunRisers Hyderabad were to clash with Mumbai Indians on Tuesday.
The T20 league was facing a COVID scare as KKR players Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier and Chennai Super Kings' bowling coach L. Balaji also tested positive in the last couple of days.
Monday's match between Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore was rescheduled as a result. Earlier in the day, the BCCI had announced rescheduling of Wednesday's match between CSK and Rajasthan Royals.
The tournament began on April 9 and ran smoothly for about a month before KKR's COVID-19 cases caused the initial jitters on Monday.
There was cause of concern in Delhi too as a few groundsmen at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium tested positive even though DDCA chief Rohan Jaitley asserted that "none of the groundsmen on duty" were among the infected.
Just days before this, three Australian players had pulled out of the league, citing COVID-19 concerns amid a devastating second wave of the global pandemic that has overwhelmed the medical infrastructure of the country.
The 2020 IPL had also been held in a bio-secure bubble in the UAE and at that time, infections were only reported before the start of the tournament.
India is currently recording over 3 lakh cases everyday and more than 3,000 daily deaths.
(With PTI inputs)
