First priority is safety, says Ganguly after IPL's suspension

Mumbai: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Friday said the “first priority is safety” after the Board suspended the start of this year’s IPL from March 29 to April 15 in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Let’s stick to the postponement (at the moment). First priority is safety, so we postponed the games,” Ganguly said in his first reaction.

“We will see what happens. It is too early to answer,” said Ganguly when asked if there will be more doubleheaders if they are able to host it from April 15.

The BCCI also called off the ongoing ODI series against South Africa.

Asked whether the IPL franchisees are happy, Ganguly said, “Nobody has a choice.”

A senior BCCI official said that only the start date has been pushed while the window remains the same with regard to the IPL.

The decision to suspend IPL came hours after Delhi government suspended all sporting activity in the national capital due to the ever-growing health crisis. Delhi is home to the Delhi Capitals IPL franchise.

The Sports Ministry had on Thursday issued an advisory asking national federations to follow the Health Ministry’s guidelines and avoid large gatherings in sports events.

India has recorded more than 80 positive cases so far with the global infected count standing at over 1,30,000.

The death toll because of the virus has gone beyond 5,000 internationally.