The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday announced the postponement of the Indian Premier League till April 15 in wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country, reported news agency ANI.
“We have decided to suspend IPL 2020 till April 15, as a precautionary measure against the Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) situation,” ANI quoted BCCI saying in a statement.
The cricket board said that the decision to postpone the event was taken over the “concern and sensitivity towards stakeholders and public health in general.”
The annual T20 cricket extravaganza was scheduled to start from March 29 in Mumbai with a match between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.
The move came after the Centre advised the BCCI to either postpone the sporting event or hold matches in closed stadiums without spectators.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi government had said that it will not host IPL matches in the national capital in its bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which has so far claimed over 4,600 lives globally and left over 1,16,000 affected.
India saw its first death due to the novel virus as a 76-year-old Karnataka man, who died on Tuesday, was tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
