Sri Lanka Cricket Offers To Host IPL 2020
Published - 16 Apr 2020, 09:48 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:05 AM
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), on Thursday, offered to host the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). SLC offered its proposal just an hour after the BCCI announced that IPL 2020 has been suspended indefinitely owing to the rising concern over the spread of coronavirus in the country.
The thirteenth edition of the IPL was set to get underway on March 29 with a blockbuster clash between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. But even before the league could start, the BCCI suspended the league till April 15 in the wake of the outbreak.
At the time of suspending IPL 2020 last month, the board had stated that the next decision would depend on the situation. But unfortunately, the situation has only worsened since then. As things stand, there are more than 10,000 positive cases across the country with more than 300 deaths.
Earlier this week, PM Narendra Modi announced that extension of the lockdown. The lockdown has been extended to May 3 for the time being. With things not looking promising at the moment, the BCCI suspended the league until further notice.
And while the fate of the league is not at all clear, SLC have made a proposal to the BCCI. SLC president Shammi Silva is positive that Sri Lanka would be free from the pandemic earlier than India and stated that SLC would write to BCCI soon.
“It looks like Sri Lanka will be clear of the coronavirus before India,” Silva told Reuters in Colombo.
“If so, we can host the tournament here. We will be writing to the Indian cricket board soon,” he added.
Shifting IPL out of the country is nothing new for the BCCI. The entire tournament was played in South Africa in 2009 over security reasons as the Election Commission said that the country did not have enough forces to provide security for the elections and also hold the tournament simultaneously. 5 years later, few of the matches were held in UAE due to the elections.
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BCCI Indian Premier League (IPL) Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC)
