The Coronavirus has stopped the flow of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that was to be commenced by 29th March. Amidst the lockdown, the government and the cricketing authorities have taken a mutual decision to postpone the league until further notice.
Canceling the league definitely might cause the board and the franchises’ stakeholders financially. As the availability of the players is one of the major obstacles, the board might be forced to either cancel the league or hold it behind closed doors but, considering the situation, it doesn’t seem possible for the Indian Players to go ahead with the league.
Mathew Hayden, the ex-Australian opening batsman, thinks that BCCI shall choose to organize the league without spectators behind closed doors. He suggests that Sri Lanka might be the best venue to organize the league without overseas players as it is not possible to hold the league in India.
Earlier, SLC proposed BCCI for hosting their league along with all the facilities provided, however, an official from BCCI denied the proposal and said that there is not any such proposal from Sri Lanka.
Mathew Hayden: Host IPL 2020 without overseas players in Sri Lanka
“Certainly the IPL could take exist without foreign players. I think it would be a product that is being compromised naturally because foreign players do add a lot to the IPL. They raise the level of awareness and excitement among fans. Getting nations together has in fact made IPL the fun that it has been,” Mathew Hayden said as quoted by TOI.
“But in conditions like this, it could go on without foreign players and it should go on if all health issues have been uncompromised and the game can proceed in clean stadiums.”
