IPL suspended indefinitely after more players test Covid-positive
NEW DELHI:
SUNRISERS’ WRIDDHIMAN SAHA AND DELHI CAPITALS’ AMIT MISHRA ARE THE LATEST TO HAVE TESTED POSITIVE
with Delhi Capitals’ veteran spinner Amit Mishra.
The eight-team IPL, with an estimated brand value of $6.8 billion, is the richest Twenty20 league and attracts many of the best players from around the world to India.
As many as 57 foreign players, including 14 Australians, are currently stuck in India along with dozens of support staff.
IPL chairman Brijesh Patel said it was too early to say when the league, originally scheduled to culminate in a May 30 final in Ahmedabad, could resume.
“We are looking for another window,” Patel said. “Right now we can’t say when we can reschedule it.”
A suspension looked almost inevitable after Monday’s game in Ahmedabad had to be postponed after two Kolkata Knight Riders players tested positive for Covid-19.
Two non-playing members of Chennai Super Kings also contracted the virus in Delhi, prompting questions about the robustness of the league’s biobubble arrangements.
The abrupt suspension left foreign players, including England’s World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan and Australia’s Steve Smith and David Warner, with a major headache.
The IPL chairman said the BCCI will “find a way” to send the league’s foreign recruits back to their respective countries.
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The Indian Premier League (IPL) was suspended indefinitely after some players tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday as nationwide infections surged.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) issued a statement saying that authorities and tournament officials decided unanimously “to postpone IPL 2021 season, with immediate effect.”
“The BCCI does not want to compromise on the safety of the players, support staff and the other participants,” the BCCI said. “These are difficult times, especially in India. We have tried to bring in some positivity and cheer, however, it is imperative that the tournament is now suspended and everyone goes back to their families and loved ones in these trying times.”
The suspension of the tournament was announced after Sunrisers Hyderabad’s wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha tested positive for Covid-19 along
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