Road Safety World Series Called Off Due To Coronavirus Outbreak

The Road Safety World Series has been called off in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. While this is the first cricket assignment in India that has been called off, the outbreak has affected cricket assignments outside the country too.

On Wednesday, the two-match T20I series between Asia XI and World XI was postponed by Bangladesh Cricket Board while the inaugural Africa T20 Cup was called off. The ongoing pandemic has also seen Thailand call off a women’s T20 quadrangular series that would have seen the Netherlands, Ireland and Zimbabwe in Bangkok earlier this month.

In UK, county outfits Lancashire and Worcestershire are understood to have scrapped plans for pre-season warm-up tours to South Africa and the UAE in the wake of the outbreak.

Coming to the Road Safety World Series, Sportstar has reported that an official announcement about the cancellation of the series is likely to be made soon. The news outlet further reported that the decision has been taken after the players had a long meeting with the organisers on Thursday evening.

With the health ministry issuing a notification that public gatherings should be avoided, the organisers had initially thought of continuing the remainder of the tournament behind closed doors at the DY Patil Sports Complex in Navi Mumbai. But after a meeting with the players, the organisers have decided to postpone the league to either in May or in October, depending on the availability of the players.

Muttiah Muralitharan, Marvan Atapattu and Rangana Herath have already left for Sri Lanka. The other overseas cricketers are likely to fly out later on Thursday or on Friday. The Road Safety World Series saw five teams – India Legends, West Indies Legends, Sri Lanka Legends, Australia Legends and South Africa Legends – feature in it.

Watch: MS Dhoni Scores A Blistering Century On His CSK Return