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.
After the BCCI on Tuesday postponed a conference call with the franchise owners of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Sourav Ganguly has said he doesn’t have an answer on the fate of this year’s edition of the tournament amid the nationwide lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The call with the franchise owners and all other stakeholders was supposed to find a way forward for the 13th edition of the cash-rich league amid the ongoing crisis caused by the novel coronavirus.
After their initial reluctance to reschedule it, the BCCI on March 13 had announced the postponement of the IPL 2020 from March 29 to April 15. But with the major parts of India under lockdown till at least March 31, IPL 2020 has been subjected to an existential crisis.
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“I can’t say anything at the moment. We are at the same place where we were on the day we postponed. Nothing has changed in the last 10 days. So, I don’t have an answer to it. Status quo remains,” PTI quoted Ganguly as saying.
There were speculations that the BCCI might go ahead with a rescheduled IPL during the August-September window later this year. But the BCCI president has ruled out the possibility, considering the Future Tour Programme (FTP).
“You can’t plan anything. The FTP is scheduled. It’s there and you can’t change the FTP. All around the world, cricket and more so sports has stopped,” he said.
He also expressed his doubts on whether the current situation can be covered by insurance to make up for the losses that all stakeholders will suffer.
“I am not sure whether you can get insurance money. Because this is a government lockdown. I am not sure whether a government lockdown is covered by insurance or not.
“We will have to see. We have not assessed all these things. At this point of time, it is very difficult for me to give any concrete answer,” the charismatic former batsman said.
(With PTI inputs)
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