Coronavirus: Sri Lanka Premier League draft postponed

Bengaluru, October 9: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has forced the postponement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) like player auction/draft of the Sri Lanka Premier League by 10 days as the island nation continues its battle to contain the global pandemic.

Leading internationals including Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy, Darren Bravo, Shahid Afridi and Shakib Al Hasan had been up for grabs at a Friday (October 9) ceremony ahead of the Twenty20 competition.

But with more than 1,000 workers at one factory near the capital Colombo testing positive in just 72 hours this week, the government has locked down some regions and banned public gatherings.

"The 'Player Draft' will not go ahead as planned, owing to the current health situation," governing body Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said in a statement.

The IPL auction-style event was rescheduled to October 19, and SLC added that it would continue to closely monitor the health situation over the next few days.

Inaugural Lanka Premier League postponed to November 21

The 23-match event has already been rescheduled twice. It was due to kick off in August, but was moved to November 14 and then November 21.

The decision comes just over a week after Bangladesh called off its Test series in Sri Lanka, saying the hosts' virus restrictions were too onerous.

Coronavirus: Bangladesh's tour of Sri Lanka put off once again

The Tests in October-November were meant to mark the two nations' return to international cricket after a months-long lockdown halted professional sports worldwide.

Sri Lanka has reported almost 4,500 coronavirus infections and 13 related deaths so far.

(With inputs from Agencies)