ICC indefinitely postpones board meeting due to coronavirus scare

The ever-rising fears over the coronavirus have started engulfing the cricketing world as the four-day meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executives and the member boards was indefinitely deferred owing to the virus outbreak. Over 4,000 cases of death have been reported from all over the world while hundreds of thousands of people have been affected by the virus that originated in China.

The decision to postpone the meeting was taken a couple of days ago in the wake of the growing number of cases across the globe. The international cricket governing body informed its member countries about its decision and most were in agreement with the call. Two weeks ago, the Asian Cricket Council members also decided to indefinitely postpone their meeting because of the same concern.

The cancellations of the board meetings of two of the game’s most prominent governing bodies give enough impression that the virus scare has hit the sporting fraternity hard.

End of the road for Shashank Manohar?

Meanwhile, informed sources told the daily that the ICC’s current chairman, Shashank Manohar, who has said that he would not seek an extension of his term, may not return to the governing body again. Manohar has been serving in the top post since November 2015.

“If at all he had come for the March meeting, and that’s a big “if”, it would have anyways been his last meeting, considering he himself doesn’t want to continue. But now that the meeting is not happening, it should be a final goodbye for him,” Times of India quoted sources as saying about the 62-year-old Manohar.

In India, however, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has said there will be no change in the schedule of the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting in Mumbai on March 29. Authorities and legal activists in major cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, however, have sought scrapping of games at those venues since they will see large gatherings — something not prescribed by those preaching caution against the spread of coronavirus. Defending champions Mumbai Indians will take on last year’s finalists Chennai Super Kings in the inaugural match.