Shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak till May 3, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sources said on Tuesday (April 14) that Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 will be postponed for the time being.
BCCI sources said that there is no clarity over the future of IPL 2020 at this moment and BCCI officials will review the situation only after May 3 when the Centre will issue fresh guidelines regarding the coronavirus crisis.
It may be recalled that IPL 2020 was scheduled to start on March 29 but it was initially suspended until April 15 due to COVID-19 outbreak in India and other parts of the world.
The further psotponement of IPL 2020 means that the marquee tournament will miss the April-May window and it would be very tough for the BCCI to hold the IPL 2020 in this year because of the cramped cricket calendar after May.
In March, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had said that hosting the cash-rich tournament would only come into the picture after the improvement of the situation around the pandemic. But the situation has clearly worsened in India with coronavirus cases crossing the 10000-mark on Tuesday.
"I can't say anything at the moment. We are at the same place where we were on the day we postponed. Nothing has changed in the last 10 days. So, I don't have an answer to it. Status quo remains," Ganguly had told PTI.
Meanwhile, Kings XI Punjab owner Ness Wadia had said that the BCCI should consider postponing the IPL now, adding that it was inhuman to think of hositing the IPL when the whole world is battling a pandemic.
