Amidst the stern circumstances due to the massive coronavirus outbreak, the BCCI announced the suspension of the Indian Premier League (IPL)

 Amidst the stern circumstances due to the massive coronavirus outbreak, the BCCI announced the suspension of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for an indefinite period. The disastrous COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll across the globe and more than 1 lakh deaths have occurred due to the life-threatening virus. In order to prevent this situation, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently extended the lockdown period until May 3.

However, with India not ready to host the IPL in the near future, Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has proposed to host the cash-rich T20 league this year. During an interview, Sri Lanka Cricket President Shammi Silva stated that the BCCI is very much likely to consider their proposal after reviewing the pandemic situation in Sri Lanka.

In case there is no IPL this year, its stakeholders are expected to incur some big losses. However, if the IPL 2020 is held in Sri Lanka, the losses can be minimized to a great extent. Currently, there are close to 238 coronavirus positive cases in Sri Lanka out of which 65 patients have recovered and 7 have died because of the deadly disease.

“If IPL is called off, Indian Cricket board and IPL stakeholders will have to bear a loss of more than USD 500 Million. So, it will be beneficial for them to conduct the league in another country as they did in 2009 in South Africa,” said Silva.

“If we get the go-ahead from them to this proposal, we are ready to provide all the facilities necessary under the supervision of Sri Lankan health authorities,” he added.