India is currently under a nationwide 21-day lockdown to contain the spread of Coronavirus. The lockdown will end on April 14, which effectively means that the 13th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) won’t begin from April 15.
IPL 2020 was rescheduled from March 29 to mid-April in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak last month as the BCCI was hoping that the situation would improve.
But with the COVID-19 cases continuing to rise globally, it is unlikely the cash-rich tournament will be organised anytime soon.
See More: Dav Whatmore bats for a shortened season of IPL amidst Coronavirus crisis
Amid the crisis, former India pacer Ashish Nehra has said that IPL 13 can be held in the last quarter of the year, provided the pandemic is brought under control worldwide by the month of October.
"Even if the IPL doesn't happen in August, (because) there are a lot of places in India that witness rains during that month and there are high chances that lots of matches will get cancelled," Nehra told on Star Sports 1 Hindi show 'Cricket Connected'.
"If things go back to normal around the world by October, we'll have a 100 per cent clearance," he added.
Meanwhile, the BCCI has decided to "wait and watch" how the current situation evolves and will accordingly take action regarding the upcoming season of IPL.
"See IPL is already postponed till April 15 and we are watching the situation very closely. We will see how the situation develops and will take a decision accordingly. Currently, we are not thinking about all those things. Let these things settle down and then only we can start working on it. So, till April 15, we will wait and watch," a BCCI source told ANI late last month.
Given that Australia has sealed its borders for the next six months because of COVID-19 outburst, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup might also get postponed. As of now, the showpiece event is scheduled to be played from October 18 to November 15 down under.
Last week, former England skipper Michael Vaughan had proposed a condensed version of IPL leading up to the T20 World Cup while Kevin Pietersen had suggested that the IPL should kick-start the cricketing season and be held before the T20 World Cup.
(With PTI inputs)
