Due to Coronavirus the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will not going to begin on March 29 as per the existing schedule. The tournament is being postponed to April 15th.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in a media release that “The BCCI is concerned and sensitive about all its stakeholders, and public health in general, and it is taking all necessary steps to ensure that, all people related to IPL including fans have a safe cricketing experience”.
The head department of the BCCI, led by president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah, met at the board’s headquarters in Mumbai on Friday for meeting. They were assisted by their operations and logistics team in arriving at the decision.
A meeting of the IPL’s governing council is going to be held on Saturday in Mumbai. Before that meeting, the office-bearers of the Board and members of the governing council were expected to meet all franchises of the league and other important stakeholders to chart out the way forward.
Sources says that “The postponement gives BCCI the time to reassess the situation and have that much more time on hand to take a further call. The postponement will allow them to see if the threat of the virus ceases any time soon, remains in control, or gets worse. Depending on these scenarios and what the central and state governments say, a further call can be taken. “The postponement will allow the BCCI to reassess that situation too.
If the tournament can be held from mid-April onwards, then there is time now to work on the visas. Remember, the IPL cannot be held without overseas players. That’s a condition every franchise will put on paper regardless of anything else” .
At this moment, if overseas players have to arrive in India to participate in the IPL, their visas are either still being processed, pending for lack of necessary permissions, for a better understanding of existing travel routes or being rejected for now.
