IPL governing council chairman Brijesh Patel has said that the tournament will go ahead as per the schedule, saying that the GC is meeting on March 14 to talk about the situation surrounding the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak. Speaking to the Week, Patel shared the same of what BCCI president Sourav Ganguly shared that cricket matches are being hosted without any issues around the world.

“Why will COVID-19 attack only IPL? We are monitoring the situation,” he said. “All cricket matches, be it Ranji Trophy final, or series between Afghanistan and Ireland, England and Sri Lanka and Australia-New Zealand are currently going ahead as per schedule. The Road Safety World Series is on. These matches have seen full houses at the stadium in Mumbai. Local trains are running, schools and colleges are not totally shut.”

“We are monitoring the situation on a daily basis. We will take all necessary precautions as prescribed by WHO and Ministry of Health,” he again added. Patel again said that the tournament should not be in trouble as “nobody is coming from Italy or countries from where the government has stopped people from coming to India.”

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“Let us see. The IPL Governing Council is meeting on 14th March to take stock of the situation,” he further added.

Moreover, there have been reports that the Maharashtra government has stopped their ticket sales for the IPL, with the Karnataka government also doing such things. One possibility is the tournament being held with limited or no crowd at stadiums as well which Patel said that they will take a call on all this as and when needed. The IPL is scheduled to start on March 29 in Mumbai as well, with defending champions, Mumbai Indians will take on Chennai Super Kings in the opener of the much-awaited Indian Premier League.