Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts
 

India vs South Africa: BCCI cancels 2nd and 3rd ODI due to coronavirus threat

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has called off the remaining two ODIs between India and South Africa due to the coronavirus pandemic.

India vs South Africa: BCCI cancels 2nd and 3rd ODIs due to coronavirus threat

Mumbai, March 13: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has called off the remaining two ODIs between India and South Africa due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The second and third ODIs were scheduled to be played behind closed doors in Lucknow (March 15) and Kolkata (March 18) but the BCCI took the decision to cancel the matches. The first ODI between the two teams in Dharamsala was washed out due to rain.

"Yes, the series has been called off. IPL has been postponed and there is little sense to hold two ODIs at this stage. We need to take care of the health of players and all others at this point. Nothing else matters now," a BCCI official told MyKhel.

"We held a meeting with govt agencies and the outcome was that even if the matches held behind closed doors as per plan, safety could be an issue. Hence we decided to call off the series," he further said.

South Africa will now visit India at a later date to play a three-match series.

The sports ministry has issued an advisory that in case it's unavoidable to postpone a sporting event, then it is preferable that it be conducted without a large public gathering.

Earlier in the day, BCCI) postponed the IPL 2020 till April 15 as against the original schedule of March 29. The decision was conveyed to the eight teams and other formalities will be worked out on Saturday (March 14), the day of IPL Governing Council meeting.

"The BCCI has decided to suspend the IPL 2020 till April 15 as a precautionary measure against the ongoing Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)," a release from BCCI said.

A top BCCI official said it was decided that the best way forward is to hold the cash-rich league from April 15.

"Yes, the internal decision has been made to postpone the start of the tournament and it will begin on April 15, the BCCI has informed the franchises about the same," the official was quoted as saying by a news agency.

The Indian government on Wednesday cancelled all visas, except for a few official categories, till April 15 in the wake of the growing scare. It has also made the overseas players unavailable till April 15.

Story first published: Friday, March 13, 2020, 20:58 [IST]
Other articles published on Mar 13, 2020