IPL 2020 was slated to start from March 29 but with the coronavirus outbreak it was first deferred till April 15 and now with the extension of nation-wide lockdown in India till May 3, it has been indefinitely suspended.
Apparently, the Sri Lanka cricket board has written to their Indian counterparts wherein they have offered to host the IPL.
"Apparently it will cost the BCCI and its stakeholders more than $500 million to cancel the IPL," ESPNcricinfo quoted Shammi Silva, Sri Lanka Cricket president.
"So perhaps they can minimise those losses by hosting the tournament in another country. If they play it in Sri Lanka, it's easy for Indian audiences to watch the games on TV. There's precedent for this because they've played the IPL in South Africa before. We're waiting for the Indian board to respond to our proposal," he added.
"If the Indian board does agree to play the tournament here, we're ready to provide facilities in line with the requirements and recommendations of medical professionals. It would be a substantial source of income for Sri Lankan cricket as well," Silva said.
Sri Lanka has so far registered fewer number of coronavirus cases as compared to India. Till now, the country has over 230 Covid-19 cases while seven lives have been lost in the island nation.
However, the lockdown imposed in Sri Lanka is even more severe than that in most parts of India, with a curfew having been put in place for almost four weeks. The Sri Lanka government remains optimistic about eliminating the virus from the country and if the goal is achieved, then Sri Lanka can become a viable option as an IPL venue. However, even then, the government clearance would be required to host such a big tournament.
In India, the condition is worse as more than 13,000 confirmed cases have been reported thus far with more than 400 people losing their lives to coronavirus.
BCCI is also looking at the two options of having an IPL this year. They are looking to organise the event in September and early October before the T20 World Cup in Australia or hosting it at the expense of the T20 World Cup if the ICC, Cricket Australia and other stakeholders are all in agreement.
Here is the list of major sports tournaments that get cancelled or postponed due to coronavirus pandemic:
Major sports events affected by Coronavirus pandemic | |
Sports event | Status |
Tokyo Olympics | Postponed to 2021 |
Cricket | |
India vs South Africa ODI series | Cancelled |
Australia vs New Zealand (2nd and 3rd ODI) | Cancelled |
Pakistan Super League | Suspended |
England vs Sri Lanka Test series | Cancelled |
Australia vs Bangladesh Test series | Postponed |
Archery | |
World Cup in Shanghai | Cancelled |
Badminton | |
China masters | Postponed |
German Open | Cancelled |
Asian Championships | Suspended |
India Open | Suspended |
Swiss Open | Suspended |
Malaysian Open | Suspended |
Singapore Open | Suspended |
Thomas and Uber Cup finals | Postponed from May to Auguts 2020 |
Tennis | |
All AITA tournaments | Cancelled |
BNP Paribas Open | Cancelled |
Miami Open | Cancelled |
Monte Carlo Masters | Cancelled |
French Open | Postponed to Sept 20-OCt 4 |
Wimbledon 2020 | Cancelled |
Athletics | |
World Indoor Championships Nanjing | Postponed to March 2021 |
Field Hockey | |
India's tour of Japan (Jr Women's Asia Cup) | Postponed |
FIH Pro League | Suspended till June |
Basketball | |
NBA | Suspended |
Shooting | |
New Delhi World Cup | postponed to May 5-12 and June 2-9 |
Boxing | |
World Cup in Germany | Cancelled |
Formula one | |
Australian GP | Cancelled |
Bahrain GP | Postponed |
Vietnamese GP | Postponed |
Chinese GP | Postponed |
Monaco GP | Cancelled |
Azerbaijan GP | Postponed |
Football | |
Champions League | Suspended till further notice |
Europa League | Suspended till further notice |
EPL and FA Cup | Postponed till April 30 |
Euro 2020 | Postponed to 2021 |
Copa America | postponed to 2021 |
Fifa U-17 Women's World Cup | Postponed |
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