The recent outbreak of COVID-19 or coronavirus has created a bit of a panic among the people and also disturbed a lot of events in the sporting calendar across the globe.

The BCCI and IPL governing also had to postpone the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League from 29th March to 15th April, after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared coronavirus to be a global pandemic.

IPL 2020: Ban on IPL matches in Delhi leaves BCCI exploring alternative venues

The BCCI president and former India skipper Sourav Ganguly on Friday (13 March) made it clear that the boards first priority is safety after postponing the tournament. “Let’s stick to the postponement (at the moment). First priority is safety, so we postponed the games,” Ganguly said.

When asked if there will be more doubleheaders this time round as the IPL now begins on 15 April, the former India batsman said, “We will see what happens. It is too early to answer.”

The BCCI also called off the ongoing ODI series between India and South Africa and has said that they will be rescheduling the series soon. The cricket fraternity had lauded the Indian board's decision to defer the cash-rich T20 league.

The coronavirus has affected about 130,000 people across the globe with the death toll being over 5000. As far as India is concerned, there have been about 80 cases recorded so far with only death.

(With PTI inputs)