cricket

Updated: Mar 30, 2020 11:11 IST

The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League is set to be cancelled due to the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic, which has gripped the entire world. More than 720,000 people have been infected by the virus while 33,000 people have lost their lives so far.

The start of the cash-rich league had been already pushed back to April 15 from March 29 but if reports are to be believed then the entire tournament is set to be cancelled this year.

India is currently on a 21-day lockdown and hosting a tournament in these circumstances would be difficult for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

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The report also suggested there will be no mega auction next year. In 2021, teams were supposed to retain a few players with majority players going back under the hammer. But it seems that has been also been pushed back for at least an year.

“IPL will not happen this year. It will now happen next year. We all know how the situation is at the moment in the country and no one will take any risk,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

“One can’t have social distancing in the stadium. It’s better to play IPL next year. Also, no mega auction will take place. We will inform the franchises once we get final confirmation from the Indian government, the same season can continue next season,” he added.

The entire sporting calender of the world has been shredded due to the outbreak of coronavirus, in a year where several multi-national sporting events were scheduled to take place.

IPL is set to join a long list of event which has been postponed till next year. Olympics 2020 and Euro 2020 are two of the biggest tournaments that have been pushed to 2021 due to Covid-19 threat.