The coronavirus outbreak can e expected to take a huge toll on the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the recent reports suggest that the tournament will be called off altogether if the situation does not improve in the coming days. In the wake of the pandemic, on Friday, the BCCI has decided to postpone the IPL till April 15 as a precautionary measure.

Coronavirus has affected sporting events all across the globe as most of the sporting events have been called off in order to curb the spreading of Covid-19. The IPL is definitely the most high profile tournament that has been postponed so far.

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The IPL was earlier scheduled to commence on March 29 in Mumbai. But with the pandemic has barred the commencement of the tournament in the near future as the BCCI decided to postpone the start of the tournament till the 15th of next month. A BCCI official has now revealed that India’s biggest money-spinner could be postponed to next year if the tournament does not start by April 20.

As per the quotes in the Sportstar, the BCCI official said, “If at all the IPL starts, it would be around April 20 but the decision will be made around April 10. If the tournament doesn’t start by April 20, it will have to be deferred till the next year.”

According to the official, 60 matches can be held between the six-week window from April 21 till May 31 by increasing the number of double-headers. But the decision will depend on the “extent of the virus infection by the first week of April”.

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Almost all the bilateral series or tournaments which were going on or were set to start in a few days have either been canceled or postponed. On Friday, the BCCI called-off the ODI series between India and South Africa after initially announcing that it would be played in front of the empty stands. On the same day, England also called off their Test series in Sri Lanka.