Indian Premier League postponed indefinitely, franchises informed

The Indian Premier Leagues 13th edition has been indefinitely postponed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced an extension of the current nationwide lockdown till May 3.

Speaking to IANS, a BCCI functionary said that the current situation calls for an indefinite postponement and the franchises have been informed about the development and all are on the same page.

“We have to fight the pandemic and there is no choice for now. These are extraordinary times. We can’t talk about cricket and IPL at the moment so it has been indefinitely postponed and franchises have been informed about it,” the functionary said.

When contacted, two IPL franchises confirmed the development. “Yes, the BCCI has informed us and we also believe that there is no two ways about this that at present we cannot have an IPL. Let us hope for the best and hopefully we can have one later in the year when things return to normalcy,” an official of one of the franchises said.

The IPL was originally scheduled to be held between March 29 and May 24, but was postponed initially till April 15 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

It looks like, as of now the two options of having an IPL this year are organising it in September and early October before the World T20 in Australia or hosting it at the expense of the World T20 if the ICC, Cricket Australia and other stakeholders are all in agreement.

The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly had admitted earlier that the chances of the 2020 season of the cash-rich league starting any time soon was bleak.

Meanwhile, former Australia allrounder Shane Watson is desperately hoping for things to improve and the COVID-19 to go away so that he can play “atleast one more year” for Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings.

“Hopefully the things will sort of work out in the next few days and I will be able to play atleast one more year with CSK,” Watson, 38, told CSK social media handles during a video chat.

“To be able to share love of CSK, all around India not just in Chennai. And that’s the thing that blows me away. It is not just in Chennai but wherever we go, the support that we get is very strong.

“So I hope this virus moves on and I have the pleasure to re-join CSK for some more time,” said the powerful all-rounder who quit international cricket in 2016 and stood down as Sydney Thunder’s captain in the Big Bash League last year.

Watson also spoke about braving a sore and bloody knee during the 2019 IPL final to score 80 off just 59 balls before he got out off the third-last ball of the match, with his team within four runs of victory. CSK eventually lost by one run to Mumbai Indians in a thrilling summit clash in Hyderabad.

“I had absolutely no idea that had occurred. It wasn’t until actually when I was walking off after I had run myself out in the last over and stuffed it for CSK (laughs). The chance to win another final. So I was walking off and I saw blood and a cut,” Watson narrated.

“It cut through my pants. I thought it must have been because of my dive. But it wasn’t actually till the next day when my wife mentioned ‘there was blood on your pants’ like it was before that. There might have been some dive or dodgy run or whatever in the first few overs where I might have dived,” he added.

Taking to Twitter, Mumbai Indians posted: “Stay in. Stay safe. You’ve done well so far. Gear up and keep batting from your crease till 3rd May. #OneFamily @ImRo45.”

Sporting events across the globe have either been cancelled or suspended due to the pandemic and even the fate of the 13th edition of the IPL hangs in balance as the lockdown has meant that there can be no movement whatsoever and even a question of a closed-door IPL doesn’t arise.

While sources in the know of developments have already told IANS that the BCCI is looking at the option of having the cash-rich league in the October-November window, it will also need the ICC World T20 to be postponed for the Indian board to get the window. For now, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly in a recent interview made it clear that the conditions weren’t suitable to even think about hosting the IPL.

Indo-Asian News Service