Mumbai, Mar 14: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly today made it clear that the 13th edition of IPL will be a truncated one if the COVID-19 pandemic subsides but could not commit on the number of matches under the current circumstances.
The BCCI on Friday suspended the IPL from March 29 to April 15 due to government-imposed travel restrictions and refusal of three states to host any matches owing to the pandemic that has so far claimed more than 5000 lives and infected close to 1,50,000 people globally.
The extraordinary situation prompted the Board’s top officials to meet the eight franchise owners on Saturday and explore various options, including organising a curtailed tournament.
Asked if the cash-rich event could be a curtailed one, Ganguly said, “It will happen, because if it is April 15, then, in any case 15 days are gone, it has to be truncated. How truncated, how many games, I can’t say at the moment.”
The Board’s top boss reiterated that safety is their top priority, a day after the IPL was postponed and the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa was also called off.
“We will monitor further. Safety is most important and with the current situation with what is going around the world and in India, with government directives, we have even postponed the remaining domestic matches.”
Earlier in the day, Kings XI Punjab’s Ness Wadia said he doesn’t know when the T20 event will commence.
“We cannot and no one, you know, is in a position today to say when it’s going to start. We will review the situation after two to three weeks. And hopefully by then the cases will reduce,” Wadia told reporters after the meeting with Ganguly and BCCI secretary Jay Shah.
Six to seven options were discussed during the meeting.
In India, there have been two deaths and more than 80 positive COVID-19 cases, resulting in a government directive to shut the fans out of sporting events to avoid large gatherings, which eventually led to a postponement and even cancellation of many sports events.
Ganguly said the situation will be assessed every week.
“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,” he said.
“It will be reassessed every week. I can’t say at the moment (about a deadline). I has to be worked around. As much as we want to host the IPL, we also need to be careful about the security.”
Asked if there is any backup plans, the former India captain said, “I can’t say anything at the moment, allow us a week, let’s see how it goes around the world.” (PTI)
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