India cricket team calls off tour of Sri Lanka, IPL uncertain

iNDICA NEWS BUREAU

Bad news for cricket fans who were looking forward to shake off the coronavirus blues by catching up on the Indian cricket team’s tour of Sri Lanka.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India Thursday said the Sri Lanka tour was called off in view of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“It is not possible to go ahead with the tour in June-July and we have conveyed it to the Sri Lankan board (SLC). However, we remain committed to the series (at a later date),” BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

India were scheduled to play three one-day internationals and three Twenty20 matches starting June end and continuing till July in Sri Lanka. The dates for the matches, however, had not been finalized.

Meanwhile, the cash-rich Indian Premier League T20 cricket tournament may have to be shifted out of India, a top IPL official hinted Thursday.

“First preference is India of course but a lot will depend on the situation at that time,” PTI quoted IPL chairman Brijesh Patel as saying.

“Sri Lanka has offered to host it and so has UAE, we will see where we can play. If you are playing without crowds, it doesn’t matter where you play,” he added.

The IPL was held in South Africa in 2009 and a part of the 2014 edition was played in the UAE as elections to India’s Parliament were underway both times.

“We are looking at the September-October window but that is subject to the postponement of the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup,” Patel said.

The fates of the Asia Cup, scheduled in September, and the T20 World Cup in October-November, are uncertain as well, because of the pandemic.

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