As expected, the Indian Premier League 2020 has been postponed to mid-April. According to a report on ESPNcricinfo, the top BCCI officials took the call based on suggestions by the Government.

IPL 2020 start postponed to April 15

Due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, the start of the IPL 2020 has been pushed back to April 15. The president of the Indian cricket board Sourav Gangly, secretary Jay Shah, and the top management of IPL took the decision of adhering to the suggestions various norms of the Indian Government. Earlier the Government had suggested to avoid events that might attract huge crowd. Regarding the league the Government had mentioned it would advice to not continue the league in this situation but the organizers must take the final decision.

The Government had also issued a restriction on all foreign passports till April 15 which would not allow any foreign cricketers to visit India to play the 13th edition of IPL. On Friday. Delhi Government decided to not host any IPL match in 2020 as a precautionary measure to safeguard the public health.

Jay Shah says

The official statement in this regard came from the secretary of the BCCI. “The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to suspend IPL 2020 till 15th April 2020, as a precautionary measure against the ongoing Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) situation. 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 BCCI will work closely with the Government of India along with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and all other relevant Central and State Government departments in this regard.”

BCCI gets time

The IPL Governing Council is set to meet all franchises on Saturday in Mumbai to discuss the situation further. According to a source quoted by the Times of India, “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 source also added, “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.”