The BCCI President Sourav Ganguly on Saturday said that the upcoming edition of Indian Premier League will be cut short if it happens, news agency PTI reported. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai after the IPL Governing Council meeting, the former India skipper said ,“It will happen, because if it is April 15, then, in any case 15 days are gone, it has to be truncated. How truncated, how many games, I can’t say at the moment.”
The BCCI also made the call on Friday to suspend India’s ODI series against South Africa. The board decided to reschedule the remaining two matches of the one-day international series against South Africa. As a result of this decision the two matches scheduled to be played in Lucknow and Kolkata now stand cancelled.
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The Indian cricket board, on Saturday, also suspended all the remaining domestic games including the Irani Cup, which was scheduled to be played on March 18.
“We will monitor further. Safety is most important and with the current situation with what is going around the world and in India, with government directives, we have even postponed the remaining domestic matches,” Ganguly said.
The BCCI president further said that he spoke to the owners of the IPL franchises, and gave them an update on the ongoing situation. “We met with the owners, to tell them how it can happen and where do we stand at the moment. At the moment, it is just postponed. We will assess the situation,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}The BCCI president further said that he spoke to the owners of the IPL franchises, and gave them an update on the ongoing situation. “We met with the owners, to tell them how it can happen and where do we stand at the moment. At the moment, it is just postponed. We will assess the situation,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“It will be reassessed every week. I can’t say at the moment (about any deadline). I has to be worked around. As much as we want to host the IPL, we also need to be careful about the security,” he added.
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On being questioned about possible back-up plans, Ganguly said: “I can’t say anything at the moment, allow us a week, let’s see how it goes around the world.”
The statement from Ganguly came just a day after the Board of Cricket Control for India (BCCI) decided to suspend the tournament till April 15 owing to the breakout of coronavirus pandemic. The 13th edition of the T20 tournament was originally scheduled to begin from March 29 with the opening contest to be played between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.
There is a possibility that the tournament could feature more double-headers than previously planned and at least five optional venues are being kept ready after state governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi refused permission for the games.
So far, India has recorded more than 80 positive cases and two deaths due to the pandemic which has claimed more than 5,000 lives globally while infecting close to 1,50,000.
(With PTI inputs)