The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) decided to postpone the start of the IPL 2020 from March 29 to April 15 amidst the coronavirus pandemic. This came after the Indian government suspended all existing visas, except diplomatic, official, UN/international organizations, employment and project visas, till April 15, impacting the participation of foreign players.

This suspension meant that the 60 participating players from foreign countries could not obtain visas to visit India and play in the IPL for atleast 15 days. This was something the franchises were not ready to do and hence the BCCI decided to postpone the event.

IPL 2020: BCCI postpones the start of IPL 13 to April 15

Although there are chances that the matches will be played in empty stadiums as the Indian government released an advisory banning gathering of public even for sporting events.

States of Maharashtra, Delhi, and Karnataka have suspended sporting activities and Maharashtra had banned the sale of tickets for IPL 13 opener between MI and CSK; while Karnataka had called for the event to be canceled on the whole.

However, with over INR 10,000 crore at stake, this is something BCCI cannot afford to do. The franchises are okay with the games being played behind closed doors.

This decision of the Sourav Ganguly-led board of postponing the IPL was greeted with applause from the cricket fraternity. They took to Twitter to laud this step by the Indian board and here are some tweets for you.

Check them out: