Indian Premier League chairman Brijesh Patel has announced on Tuesday that IPL matches has been suspended indefinitely after multiple COVID-19 cases reported in its bio-bubble.
"The tournament has been suspended indefinitely. We will try to conduct the event in the next available window but this month is unlikely," Patel told, qouted PTI
The announcement came after Sunrisers Hyderabad's wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha tested positive for COVID-19 along with Delhi Capitals' spinner veteran spinner Amit Mishra.
"...we will take stock if we can find a suitable window later during the year. It could be September but these are all speculations. As of now we are not conducting it any further," said BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla to PTI.
On Monday, the IPL reached the halfway mark, but the 30th match, between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Ahmedabad ,was postponed after KKR players Varun Chakaravarthy and Sandeep Warrier tested positive.
Chennai Super Kings bowling coach L Balaji had also returned positive results. The spread of infections had led to postponement of two IPL games earlier.
The tournament began on April 9 and ran smoothly for about a month before KKR's COVID-19 cases caused the initial jitters on Monday.
There was cause of concern in Delhi too as a few groundsmen at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium tested positive even though DDCA chief Rohan Jaitley asserted that "none of the groundsmen on duty" were among the infected.
Just days before this, three Australian players had pulled out of the league, citing COVID-19 concerns amid a devastating second wave of the global pandemic that has overwhelmed the medical infrastructure of the country.
Earlier there were reports that BCCI is reportedly mulling holding the rest of the 60-match Indian Premier League (IPL) in Mumbai, as one of the options.
The original IPL schedule comprises six venues -- Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. Chennai and Mumbai have hosted their matches and Ahmedabad and Delhi were now hosting the games at the middle stage of the tournament.
The 2020 IPL had also been held in a bio-secure bubble in the UAE and at that time, infections were only reported before the start of the tournament.