The upcoming edition of Indian Premier League 2020 is likely to be cancelled due to the situation surrounding COVID-19, the novel coronavirus pandemic in India, as per the report in The Indian Express. The mega auction, which was scheduled to take place before IPL 2021, will also be postponed by a year. Moreover, the franchises can retain the same squads they have for this year’s league and they will be given an option to pick or drop players as well.

“We will inform the franchises once we get final confirmation from the Indian government, the same season can continue next season,” Indian Express quoted a source in the IPL administration as saying.

The IPL was earlier scheduled to start from March 29 but it was pushed back to April 15 due to the threat of coronavirus pandemic. However, as India reported more than 1000 positive cases of the coronavirus, that seems highly unlikely that the league will take place this year. Moreover, India are currently in the midst of a 21-day lockdown which is scheduled to run till mid-April.

Read here: The Future of IPL 2020 at Stake?

On the other hand, the BCCI president Sourav Ganguly had earlier said that a shortened version of the tournament could be played while saying that the safety was important. The board had also donated Rs. 51 crore for the coronavirus relief fund in the country recently.

Earlier, the BCCI had met the IPL franchises on March 14 to discuss the situation and the future of the IPL as well, following the discussion, the tournament was pushed back till April 15. However, the board is yet to give an official update of the situation. But the reports said BCCI are waiting for an announcement from the Indian government and also the sports ministry on visas which are also stopped apart from a few posts before officially announcing their decision if the league will be cancelled this year.