Very slim chance of IPL resuming

New Delhi – This year’s suspended IPL cannot be completed in India while it battles a raging coronavirus crisis and could struggle to find a slot elsewhere, India’s cricket chief Sourav Ganguly has said.

The Indian Premier League was abruptly halted at the halfway stage last week after several players became infected.

India is reporting nearly 4 000 deaths and about 400 000 new cases a day.

Ganguly, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said there was no way for the lucrative tournament to resume before India play the final of the World Test Championship against New Zealand in England on 18 June.

“Too early to say how we can find a slot to complete the IPL,” Ganguly told Sportstar magazine in India at the weekend.

“There are lots of organisational hazards like 14-day quarantine, It can’t happen in India. This quarantine is tough to handle,” he added.

Virat Kohli’s side have a complicated schedule in coming months.

India will go to England in early June, where they are set to prepare for the world Test final.

They are then scheduled to visit Sri Lanka in July before returning to England for a five-Test series in August and September.

Last year’s IPL was moved to the United Arab Emirates because of the coronavirus pandemic.

A number of English counties have since also offered to host the remainder of this IPL. –