A day after suspending the Indian Premier League and India’s two ODIs against South Africa, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has put the whole domestic season “on hold” on March 14.
“In view of the ongoing Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) outbreak, the BCCI on March 14 announced that all matches of the Paytm Irani Cup, Senior Women’s One-Day knockout, Vizzy Trophy, Senior Women's One-Day Challenger, Women's Under-19 One-Day knockout, Women’s Under 19 T20 League, Super League and knockout, Women's Under-19 T20 Challenger Trophy, Women's Under-23 knockout, Women’s Under-23 One-Day Challenger have been put on hold till further notice,” Jay Shah, BCCI secretary, said in a statement.
It will mean that the Irani Cup tie — between Ranji Trophy champion Saurashtra and Rest of India — will most probably be played as a precursor to the next season while the renovated Motera stadium in Ahmedabad, with a record capacity of 1.11 lakh which was scheduled to host the Senior Women’s Challenger from March 26, will have to wait longer for hosting its first competitive game.
Surprise decision
The decision came as a surprise to many since Gujarat is yet to have any positive COVID-19 case.
In fact, the national selection panel had even finalised the Rest of India squad, with Hanuma Vihari as captain. However, considering the rapidly perpetrating coronavirus cases in various regions of India, the BCCI decided to suspend all official cricket tournaments.
