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South Africa postpone upcoming Sri Lanka tour due to COVID-19 outbreak

The decision to postpone the series was made jointly by the cricket governing bodies of both the countries.

South Africa postpone upcoming Sri Lanka tour due to COVID-19 outbreak

South Africa cricket team. (Photo by RODGER BOSCH / AFP)

In a recent development, it is now being reported that the upcoming South Africa tour of Sri Lanka during which the two teams were scheduled to play three ODIs and as many T20Is in the first half of June has now been postponed in view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The decision to postpone the series was made jointly by the two cricketing governing bodies- the Cricket South Africa (CSA) as well as the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board.

“It is very sad that we have been forced to take this step and we will re-schedule the tour as soon as cricket returns to a sense of normality and our international fixture list allows,” commented CSA Acting Chief Executive Dr Jacques Faul as quoted by news agency IANS.

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“Our Proteas would not have been able to prepare properly taking our own lockdown situation into account and, more importantly, health considerations for our players, which are always paramount, were the over-riding factor,” he added.

“It would have been a particularly important tour for us with the three ODIs counting for the new ICC one-day league and the T20 programme being part of our preparation for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup scheduled for Australia later this year. It is very frustrating for the players who want to build on the good form they showed at the backend of our home summer against Australia,” he further said.

The virus has already infected over 24,00,000 people worldwide while over 1,65,000 people globally have lost their lives after contracting the virus.

In India, there are more than 17,000 infected people already while over 550 have lost their lives after contracting the infection.

There is still no sure shot treatment of the virus and social-distancing, self-isolation and maintenance of hand hygiene remain the only potent weapons to protect oneself from getting infected.

(With inputs from IANS)

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