New Delhi: The cash-rich Indian Premier League’s 13th edition on Saturday headed towards an indefinite postponement as the country braced for a lockdown extension to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
The BCCI has been waiting for an official announcement from the centre, but with the chief ministers of various states making it clear that another extension is on the cards, India’s richest sports body is left with no option but to postpone it further.
The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the country has crossed 8000 with 259 fatalities so far. However, it remained unclear whether the board will formally announce the postponement before April 15, the date till which the event was pushed back last month.
“Three states Punjab, Maharashtra and Karnataka have already said that they are extending lockdown. It is implied that IPL can’t happen for the time being.
But it will certainly not be cancelled. It will be postponed indefinitely,” a BCCI official told PTI on the condition of anonymity.
The IPL was originally scheduled to be held between March 29 and May 24, but was postponed initially till April 15 due to the coronavirus outbreak. “We can’t cancel IPL as it means losses to the tune of Rs 3000 crore. The BCCI will work with all stakeholders to find a solution but for that normalcy needs to return. It’s not possible for BCCI bigwigs to commit that IPL can happen at which particular slot,” he added.
As of now, there are two options — organising it in September and early October before the World T20 in Australia or hosting it at the expense of the World T20 if the ICC, Cricket Australia and other stakeholders agree.
“There are lot of ifs and buts at the moment. You can only have a meaningful discussion when things normalise. Till then, nothing can be said.”
The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly also admitted that the chances of the 2020 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting any time soon is bleak. Ganguly said that he will be able to give a concrete update on whether the IPL will be further deferred after speaking to BCCI office-bearers. “But practically speaking, when life has come to a standstill everywhere in the world, where does sport have a future in this,” he told the New Indian Express.
“We keep monitoring developments. At the present moment, we can’t say anything. And what is there to say anyway? Airports are shut, people are stuck at home, offices are locked down, nobody can go anywhere. And it seems this is how it’s going to be till the middle of May,” said Ganguly.
“Where will you get players from, where do players travel. It’s just simple common sense that at the moment, nothing is in favour of any kind of sport anywhere in the world, forget IPL.”
The IPL is the most-attended cricket league in the world and in 2014 ranked sixth by average attendance among all sports leagues. (PTI)
