BCCI Drops a Big News for IPL 2020

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has now officially declared that the IPL 2020 has been postponed indefinitely.?

The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League was scheduled to start from March 29. Chennai Super Kings were set to face Mumbai Indians in the opening match. However, things went for a toss when the novel coronavirus started spreading across the world.?

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, BCCI had suspended the IPL till April 15, but on Tuesday the government decided to extend the 21 days lockdown in the country to May 3. This has been done to curb the spread of the virus in the country. Also, the deadly virus has now affected more than 11,993 people in India while nearly 392 have lost their life.?

With the lockdown, the ban of local and international travel would continue in the country making it clear that BCCI can not host the IPL 2020 in the summer window.?

Franchises have been informed about IPL 2020

On Wednesday morning, all the eight IPL franchises were informed about the suspension of the IPL 2020. This decision of BCCI was conveyed to the franchises by the IPL’s chief operating officer, Hemang Amin.?

The decision was taken by the BCCI in a conference call on Tuesday evening which included a few important board members BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah, IPL chairman Brijesh Patel, BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal, and Amin.

The news was confirmed by a veteran franchise official who got in touch with PTI on conditions of anonymity.?

He revealed, “Yes, the BCCI has intimated us that IPL has been postponed for the time being but they are hopeful of finding a window later this year as and when things normalize,”

The chances of BCCI conducting the tournament later this year looks grim as BCCI president Sourav Ganguly declined such claims.?

He had said, “You can’t plan anything. The FTP is scheduled. It’s there and you can’t change the FTP. All around the world, cricket and more so sports has stopped,”?