The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Saturday discussed the option of conducting a curtailed Indian Premier League with the eight Indian Premier League franchise owners in wake of the coronavirus pandemic, reported PTI.
The outbreak has led to the event being suspended by a fortnight with the BCCI announcing that IPL, scheduled to start on March 29, will not begin until at least April 15. The ODI series against South Africa was also called off.
On Saturday, BCCI met the Indian Premier League franchises owners at the headquarters in Mumbai to discuss the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the upcoming season.
Stressing that the safety and well-being of fans, athletes and employees as a priority, secretary Jay Shah said in a statement, “The board will continue to monitor and work closely with Government of India, state governments and other state regulatory bodies to decide on the future course of action in the best interest of public health.”
Asked if the T20 league could be a curtailed one, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly said on Saturday, “Safety is most important for the players and at the moment (with) what’s going around in the world and India with the government directives this is all we can do. We have postponed remaining domestic matches.”
“If it (IPL) is (postponed till) April 15, then, in any case 15 days are gone, it has to be a truncated one. How truncated, how many games, I can’t say at the moment,” he added.
Ganguly, one of India’s most successful India captains who became BCCI president last year, said everyone was forced to wait and see.
“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,” said Ganguly.
“It will be re-assessed every week. I can’t say at the moment (about any deadline). It has to be worked around. As much as we want to host the IPL, we also need to be careful about the security.”
With question marks over the duration of the season and availability of overseas stars, a BCCI official said that moving the tournament abroad was not discussed at all in the meeting.
“There were six to seven options discussed during the meeting between team owners and BCCI including a curtailed IPL,” a BCCI official is quoted as saying by PTI after the meeting.
In India, there have been two deaths as of 14 March and more than 90 positive COVID-19 cases, resulting in a government directive to shut the fans out of sporting events to avoid large gatherings.
Here’s what some of the franchise owners had to say:
“No human life is worth sacrificing for IPL which should not take place if the situation doesn’t improve in two-three weeks,” said co-owner of IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab Ness Wadia following the BCCI’s decision to suspend the T20 tournament till April 15 in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Wadia, who spoke to the BCCI officials including president Sourav Ganguly on Friday, said the situation has to improve for the IPL to take place. “There can be no compromise for even one human life. If we cancel the IPL and end up saving one life, it will be worth it. That is my personal opinion. It is better to be safe than sorry,” Wadia added.
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