The suspense on IPL 2020 was finally sidelined by BCCI after they released a statement, confirming that 2020 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been postponed indefinitely. The decision comes at a time when country is going through a tough phase, amid coronavirus outbreak and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had decided to extend the lockdown till 3 May.
The BCCI has also not set a new window for the organization of the IPL and confirmed that the tournament will begin once the situation is under control. The season was expected to start from 29th March but the coronavirus ensured that it was pushed further and BCCI postponed it till 15th April. However, after the extension of lockdown, the plans bite the dust and BCCI finally came forward to confirm the news of the postponement of IPL.
“The IPL Governing Council of the BCCI has decided that the IPL 2020 Season will be suspended till further notice,” the statement read according to ESPNCricinfo.
SLC eager to host IPL 2020
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Cricket has showed interest in hosting the season of IPL which currently uncertain in the wake up of coronavirus outbreak in India. Speaking to Lankadeepa Newspaper, Sri Lanka Cricket President Shammi Silva said that India is likely to look at Sri Lanka if the coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate the situations in India.
“If IPL is called off, Indian Cricket board and IPL stakeholders will have to bear a loss of more than USD 500 Million. So, it will be beneficial for them to conduct the league in another country as they did in 2009 in South Africa,” said Silva.
“If we get the go-ahead from them to this proposal, we are ready to provide all the facilities necessary under the supervision of Sri Lankan health authorities,” he added.
Calling off the IPL will be a great loss for the stakeholders but if it gets scheduled in Sri Lanka then both stakeholders and the island nation will be benefited.
Its worth mentioning that the island nation is not worst affected by coronavirus as only 237 confirmed cases have been reported, out of which 63 people have recovered while 7 people lost their lives.
