TNPL Likely To Be Cancelled This Year Due To COVID-19 Crisis

The Tamil Nadu Premier League 2020 (TNPL) is most likely to fall in the list of yet another cancelled tournaments. The fifth edition of the TNPL was expected to take place in the months August-September; however, an official announcement of its cancellation remains on the cards due to COVID-19. The fourth season took place between the 19th of July to 15th of August 2019.

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The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association would be forced to postpone the competition in the wake of a grim situation in the state. India’s known COVID-19 cases have risen to 1.6 million and more than 35000 deaths. As for Tamil Nadu, the numbers are 2.4 lakh instances while recording 3800 fatalities. Hence, the situation remains highly uncertain.

The initial commencing dates of the TNPL were between the 10th of June to the 12th of July. Nevertheless, like many other global tournaments and tours, this got deferred too.

The association was hopeful of the situation easing down and rescheduling it to August-September timeline; however, the chances seem bleak after the moratorium of sporting events in August.

It seems as if there exists no other window this year for the TNPL with the Indian Premier League (IPL) set to kickstart in September too. The domestic season, including the Ranji Trophy, would also begin after the IPL comes to a close.

We were hoping to get some relaxation after July for TNPL: TNCA Offical

An official of the TNCA stated that they were hoping for some leniencies in July; however, there seems on hope this year. He also remarked the situation as “unfortunate”, considering they have installed floodlights ready in Salem and Coimbatore, which takes the total number of grounds with lights to five in the state.

“We were hoping to get some relaxation after July, but now that no sporting events are allowed for another month, the window seems to have closed. It is unfortunate, especially considering we now have floodlights ready at Salem and Coimbatore as well which takes the total number of grounds with lights to five in the State,” the official stated as quoted by the Hindu.

Nevertheless, the net facilities would likely be provided to the players at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium for national and international players’ training.

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