Everest Premier League postponed due to Coronavirus epidemic

Nepal’s foremost franchise T20 tournament, Everest Premier League (EPL) has been postponed indefinitely due to the ongoing Coronavirus epidemic. Initially, the event that was scheduled to begin on March 14 was set to feature high-profile overseas signings such as Chris Gayle, Corey Anderson, Dwayne Smith. The decision to postpone the event was taken following consultations with the Nepal Ministry of Home Affairs, the Cricket Association of Nepal, franchisees, players and other stakeholders, the organisers said in a statement released today (March 5th). The intention remains to reschedule the event as soon as possible, though it is unclear how soon that may be.

"We are naturally all sad at today's announcement... but simply we have to put the health and well-being of all Nepalis and our overseas players before everything else. There is no doubt that this year's edition of the TVL Everest Premier League was going to be the biggest and best ever, this will still be the case. I would like to assure that as soon as we are able to go ahead with the 2020 season, we will be working to ensure that it will be the spectacular event the likes of which Nepal has never seen before" said EPL founder and Managing Director Aamir Akhtar, reported Cricbuzz.

Originally scheduled for December, the competition was moved to early February before being shifted again to March. The EPL is the first major cricket event to fall victim to the coronavirus, despite Nepal being comparatively less affected by the virus thus far, with only a single confirmed case. Earlier this month, a five-match T20I series between Hong Kong and Malaysia was moved from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur owing to the outbreak, whilst the Thai Cricket Association cancelled a scheduled quadrilateral women's series between Thailand, Ireland, the Netherlands and Zimbabwe.