The upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is about to begin and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has ensured that all measures will be in place to tackle the rapidly-spreading novel coronavirus threat which has wreaked havoc on sporting events around the world.
The T20 league announced introduced by the BCCI is now one of the top cricketing events in the world where International players from around the world participate including the local stars. Due to this, the cricket board and the management have to take serious measure to take the deadly virus.
Meanwhile, Ganguly said in a recent press conference that the tournament will take place in time and they will take all the precautionary measures to ensure that players and fans are not affected.
“IPL is very much on. Everywhere, the tournaments are going on. England is already in Sri Lanka. South Africa are here. There are no issues. County teams are travelling all over the world. They are travelling to Abu Dhabi, UAE to play. So there is no problem.”
“We will take all precautions. I don’t know exactly what are the extra measures. It’s an only a medical team which will tell us about that. The medical team is already in touch with the hospitals so that everything is available. We will do what the doctors say. They are the professionals. All medical issues will be addressed by the medical team. Every tournament will go on,” the BCCI President said.
Earlier, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) also informed that they are updating their players about the coronavirus before sending their players to IPL. Six players from New Zealand will take part this season including their captain Kane Williamson.
The tournament is set to kick-off on March 29 with two famous teams Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings playing the opening game of the IPL 2020.
Coronavirus in India haven’t spread rapidly yet, but according to the reports, coronavirus patient count currently stands at 31, including 16 Italian tourists in India. Internationally, the deadly outbreak has so far killed more than 3,300 people and infected nearly 100,000 in about 85 countries.
The coronavirus outbreak has severely impacted the global sporting schedules with one of the disease epicentres, Italy, banning fans from venues till April. It is effecting all the global sporting events including the Tokyo Olympic, The test events have been postponed or cancelled in Japan, another badly-affected country.
There are growing concerns about the fate of the Tokyo Olympics in July-August despite the International Olympic Committee’s assertion that the quadrennial showpiece will go ahead according to the planned schedule.