Reports | India’s tour of Sri Lanka impossible at present, admits BCCI official
The BCCI are unsure about the likelihood of an India-Sri Lanka series in July
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The BCCI have taken a U-turn with regards to their stance on the Sri Lanka tour and reportedly now feel that the chances of the series going ahead in July is ‘near impossible’. The board feel that international travel amongst other safety issues might potentially hinder the commencement of the tour.
A day after BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal sounded optimistic about team India potentially touring Sri Lanka in July, a BCCI official has now dashed the hopes of fans and has admitted that the tour going ahead as scheduled might right now be all but impossible. After SLC had officially written to the BCCI a few days ago requesting India to tour Sri Lanka in July, Dhumal, on Saturday, suggested that the Indian board will keep its options open, but the BCCI have now reversed their stance.
According to a board official, the red/orange/green zone segregations, which has seen players such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma stuck in contagious zones, might make it tricky for the players to gather. The official, moreover, also feels that despite the lockdown getting eased down, the possibility of the Indian government reopening international travel by mid-July might be low.
"I would say it is close to impossible at present. Firstly, we need to take one step at a time in the current scenario and you do realise that some of our players are stuck in Mumbai and Bengaluru -- two zones which are highly affected by the pandemic,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying by News18.
"Without even going into the question on whether the Indian team would travel without the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma among others, I would say will international travel be permissible? So, we all need to wait and watch how things unfold.
"But keeping in mind how efficiently the government has looked to fight the battle against the pandemic, I doubt we will be in a position to travel outside the country by mid-July. The BCCI will obviously try to honour all its commitments, if not now, then at a later date which suits both boards involved.”
The official added that with uncertainty looming around travel restrictions within the country, the board would first and foremost look to prioritize and restart domestic cricket, if and when normalcy is restored.
"But looking at the current scenarios, safety is priority. Also, to get cricketers in the red zone to come out and travel to a green zone is currently not allowed. So, if the government does in the near future allow that, we will have to see what happens from there on and if we can then start domestic cricket. Domestic cricket is the way forward at present," the official added.
India were originally scheduled to tour Sri Lanka in the month of June/July to play three ODIs and as many T20Is, but the possibility of the series happening now looks unlikely. The Lankan series aside, there is also uncertainty looming over the future of both the thirteenth edition of the Indian Premier League and the World T20.
