With franchises and cricketers, all in UAE gearing up for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, news of the cash-rich event being suspended is doing the rounds on social media. So is the 13th edition of the IPL really suspended?
The news of the cancellation of the IPL was brought out by a Twitter handle Farzi Cricketer. The cricket parody account tweeted saying, "JUST IN: BCCI officially suspends IPL 2020 indefinitely in light of the #Coronavirus pandemic".
So why did this tweet grab the attention of many? One reason being, the handle had the user name and display picture of Sourav Ganguly when he broke the 'fake' news.
Cricketer Sheldon Jackson too had retweeted and was heartbroken. However, he soon deleted the tweet.
So is the IPL 2020 suspended?
As far as the IPL is concerned, there is no official statement from the tournament's governing body nor from Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The 13th edition is looking to begin from September 19, however, the BCCI is yet to announce the schedule for the upcoming season.
According to sources, some of the franchises have ‘requested’ the Indian cricket board to announce the schedule ‘quickly’.
“God knows, when will they (BCCI) share the schedule with us. We have requested the BCCI — both orally and through texts — to make it quick as we have to plan accordingly,” a team source told from UAE.
The reason behind the delay is said to be the sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in Abu Dhabi - which is one of the main venues of the tournament - apart from Sharjah and Dubai, sources said.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is one squad that is the most affected as 13 members have been tested positive for coronavirus.
Batsman Suresh Raina too has also pulled out of the tournament citing personal reasons. The BCCI issued a release and confirmed the news about the infected members without sharing their names.
The 13th edition of the IPL will see the final on November 10. The league was originally scheduled to take place in India during the March-May window, however, it had to be suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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