With coronavirus crisis growing, the Indian Premier League 2020, it appears, is nearing cancellation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country from March 25 onwards to battle against the COVID-19 virus. The lockdown will be effective till April 14, and chances are it may be extended thereafter. Earlier, IPL 2020 was postponed until April 15 and now with a lockdown in place, the T20 league is nearing either further postponement or cancellation. Ravi Ashwin, Irfan Pathan, Anil Kumble, Gautam Gambhir, Sanjay Manjrekar & Others Applaud PM Narendra Modi’s Decision of 21-Day Lockdown (Read Tweets).
IPL 2020 was originally scheduled to start on March 29. However, following the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, the league was deferred. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also cancelled teleconference meeting with franchise owners amid the coronavirus crisis.
Ahead of the lockdown, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly was clueless about IPL 2020 future. "I can't say anything at the moment. We are at the same place where we were on the day we postponed. Nothing has changed in the last 10 days. So, I don't have an answer to it. Status quo remains," he said. Shikhar Dhawan's Life in Coronavirus Times: Washing Clothes, Cleaning Washroom (Watch Video).
If things become normal in the near future, BCCI will have to take into consideration the ICC's Future Tours Program (FTP). India are scheduled to tour Sri Lanka in June, then a proposed series against Zimbabwe, Asia Cup 2020 and finally the ICC T20 World Cup 2020.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 25, 2020 12:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).