The deadly coronavirus which is believed to be originated in Wuhan city of Hubei province of Mainland China has halted the fast moving world. The virus has allready killed over 20,000+ people in the world and close to 10 lakh people are affected across the globe.
Covid 19 has also forced many government to a complete lockdown in their country and it has also affected many sports tournament in the world, including 2020 Tokyo Olympics which is now scheduled to take place in 2021 and promises to make the expenses double for the organizers and the tax payers of Japan.
Cricket was also badly affected by the deadly virus as world’s most richest T20 league- IPL was rescheduled to a later date and with the spread of the virus in India, it seems likely that the IPL governing council is heading to postpone the event this year. Pakistan Super League was also heading to the last stage but Covid 19 forced the organizers to call off the event. Now cricket fans across the world are waiting eagerly for the live cricket action but the current scenario do not bring good news for them.
On the basis of number of cases in the countries, ill try to predict the next cricket match or series which will go as plan.
- Ireland tour of Zimbabwe was allready postponed which was scheduled from April 2.
- Bangladesh’s limited over tour of Ireland was allready cancelled which was scheduled from May14-19.
- West Indies’ tour of England is likely to be cancelled as the number of cases in Great Britain is allready over 22 thousand and the figure is expected to surge ahead in the days to come. It is unlikely that the situation will be under control in two months as the series is scheduled from June 04.
- New Zealand’s short tour to Scotland, Netherlands and Ireland in June is also likely to get cancelled as the three European countries are badly suffering from coronavirus and it is likely that New Zealand cricket board won’t risk sending their players in these badly affected countries.
- Australia is scheduled to tour Bangladesh from June 11 and the country has just 49 people suffering from the coronavirus. If the situation is under control then Australia may consider to travel.
- Australia’s tour to Scotland and England in June-July is most likely to be cancelled amid outbreak of the virus in the British nation. The country may not be Covid 19 free in just three months when the cases are allready surging up and the current figure reads over 22 thousand affected people.
- Pakistan’s tour of Netherlands may still be an uncertainty, allthough its scheduled in July but the country has allready 12,000+ affected people and the country may not be corona free in July, when the series starts.
New Zealand’s tour of West Indies starts on 8th July and it is likely that the series will be broadcasted live to bring down the agony of cricket lovers. The matches may be played behind closed doors but there is a good chance that New Zealand will play the series in Caribbean.
The island nation is least affected by coronavirus as the country has less than 50 confirmed cases. The matches are scheduled in Antigua with three confirmed cases, Dominica with seven confirmed cases and Guyana with 8 confirmed cases.
My prediction is that New Zealand tour of West Indies will go according to plan and will be broadcasted live on television.
