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.
A senior Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official has dismissed the speculations that the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League would be moved to Sri Lanka after media reports appeared saying the island nation has expressed the desire to host the tournament.
“The BCCI will not be in a position to say anything when the world is closed,” a senior Board official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
“There is no proposal from SLC yet and obviously no discussion,” the official on being asked about the BCCI’s stand when the offer is on table.
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An ESPNcricinfo report on Thursday had suggested that the Sri Lanka Cricket president Shammi Silva had already given the proposal to shift the 2020 edition of the IPL to their nation.
“Apparently it will cost the BCCI and its stakeholders more than $500 million to cancel the IPL. So perhaps they can minimise those losses by hosting the tournament in another country,” Silva was quoted as saying to Sinhala daily Lankadeepa.
“If they play it in Sri Lanka, it’s easy for Indian audiences to watch the games on TV. There’s precedent for this because they’ve played the IPL in South Africa before. We’re waiting for the Indian board to respond to our proposal,” he added.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Thursday confirmed that the IPL 2020, which was due to be played from March 29 this year before getting postponed to April 15, had been suspended indefinitely.
In an official statement, Shah said that the decision was taken keeping in mind the “evolving global health concerns regarding COVID-19” and the nationwide lockdown that has been imposed in India till May 3 to contain the spread of the deadly virus.
With PTI inputs
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