Still unexplained
The hunt for the origins of Covid-19 has for the past four years been a tangled web of politics, power struggles, and international finger-pointing.
The Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) will decide the fate of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which has been postponed due to the deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus, over a conference call with the stakeholders on upcoming Tuesday.
“BCCI and IPL franchise to have a conference call on coming Tuesday to discuss the process and further way of IPL,” a BCCI source was quoted as saying by ANI.
After their initial reluctance to reschedule the cash-rich tournament, the BCCI on March 13 had announced the postponement of the IPL 2020 from March 29 to April 15.
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“The Board of Control for Cricket in India has decided to suspend IPL 2020 till 15th April 2020, as a precautionary measure against the ongoing Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) situation,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in an official statement.
“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 Board stated.
But given the gradual increase in cases of the coronavirus, it is highly unlikely that the cricket board would start the tournament on April 15. However, the meeting next week will be of paramount importance.
There have been speculations that the governing body might go ahead with a closed-door but televised IPL, while some reports have also stated that a section of the board has voted for the league to be played with Indian players only as any incoming cricketer will have to be quarantined for 14 days.
The COVID-19 pandemic has already unleashed its ugly head in India with more than 270 cases reported and four deaths so far. Also, each of the last three days has seen the highest number of cases for a day since the first case was reported in India.
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