Reports | IPL 2020 in a limbo; call likely to be taken post-April
With 21-day restriction on all activities in the country, the status of the 2020 edition of the IPL is in a limbo with the last call on the tournament to be taken at the end of April. The reports also suggest that this edition of the cash-rich tournaments looks unlikely with the widespread pandemic.
Preparations for the IPL including the construction of VIP boxes were put on hold after the tournament was pushed back to April 15. While it was given that the delayed start to the tournament will ensure that everything would work out smoothly, the latest restriction from the government has put everything in limbo.
With a 21-day restriction on activities in the country, this year’s IPL looks highly unlikely to go ahead. The restriction goes on till April 14, which gives the IPL less than a fortnight to go ahead with the preparations. However, currently, it looks like hosting the cash-rich tournament would be highly unlikely.
“We are not even discussing IPL right now. It will be premature to say anything but hosting the IPL this year looks a bit difficult,” a top franchise official told Hindustan Times.
On top of that, earlier, the DDCA had instructed the officials that no IPL related work would be done till April 15. That only leaves the IPL with an option of hosting a reduced tournament that starts from May. Given that the pandemic is not on the curb, even the May deadline looks to be out of hands for the officials.
“All IPL related work was stopped in mid-March. Only the construction of VIP boxes was underway when this coronavirus pandemic forced us to go on a work-from-home. We were already told not to hold IPL-related work till April 15,” said a Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) official privy to the development.
“The IMGR (Delhi Capitals) guys came here last week and they were told about the developments. Even they looked less hopeful of the IPL taking place this year. Generally it takes about two weeks for the pitch and construction work to complete before every IPL that means till the end of April it is highly unlikely,” the official concluded.