The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly waiting for an official call from the government regarding the ongoing crisis caused by the novel coronavirus before deciding on the fate of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The IPL 2020, which was scheduled to be played from March 29, was postponed to April 15 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has already affected more than 8,000 people and killed over 250 in India. In the last 24 hours, India recorded more than 900 positive coronavirus cases and 34 fatalities.

“As of now IPL is postponed till April 15, we will wait for government decision and take a call accordingly,” ANI quoted a BCCI source as saying.

On being asked if BCCI has a date or time in mind for the IPL to kickstart, the source said, “As of now, I cannot comment on it. In the coming few days, we might talk to franchises again but as of now, no decision has been made. We are closely monitoring the situation.

With India almost certain to remain under an extended lockdown till at least March 30 in an attempt to curb the spread of the deadly virus, IPL 2020 has been subjected to an existential crisis as the April 15 start is not going to happen. An official statement is still awaited.

Also, there have been various media reports suggesting BCCI is mulling alternative windows like July and October-November to stage the 2020’s edition of the cash-rich tournament. But all of the speculations lacked an official backing as the fate of IPL continues to hang in doubt.

Meanwhile, the chief of the cricket governing body Sourav Ganguly, in a recent media interaction, made it clear that the current situation doesn’t permit a sporting event like IPL. He also believed that these unprecedented circumstances are going to prevail till at least mid-May.

“We keep monitoring developments. At the present moment, we can’t say anything. And what is there to say anyway? Airports are shut, people are stuck at home, offices are locked down, nobody can go anywhere. And it seems this is how it’s going to be till the middle of May,” IANS quoted Ganguly.

Where will you get players from, where do players travel. It’s just simple common sense that at the moment, nothing is in favour of any kind of sport anywhere in the world, forget IPL”, he added.