Coronavirus casts shadow over this year’s BPL

The coronavirus pandemic, which has caused postponement of many cricketing events, may now force organisers to delay this year's edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), reports UNB.

BPL is scheduled to take place later this year.

Bangladesh's Pakistan tour for an ODI and a Test, home series against Australia for two Tests, home series against New Zealand, away series against Ireland and another away series against Sri Lanka have been postponed due to the pandemic.

Not just international cricket, the domestic cricket has also been hit hard.

From mid-March, all cricketing activities in Bangladesh were on hold before several cricketers started individual training just a week before the Eid-ul-Azha.

"England started playing international cricket in close-door venues. At the same time, India is planning to host IPL abroad. But the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) can't afford to host BPL abroad like India," Islam Haider Mallick, secretary member of BPL governing council, told the media.

"More than 100 people work for the broadcasting company and many foreign players and umpires also join BPL. So we can't host this event without the coronavirus situation getting better. We need to think about everybody involved," he said.

While this year's BPL is uncertain, BCB is trying to play the series against Sri Lanka in October.

Both the boards are discussing the issue after ICC postponed the T20 World Cup which was scheduled to be played in October in Australia.