Road Safety World Series called off following the health ministry notification regarding Coronavirus

Coronavirus has affected almost all the events across the world now. Even the sporting events aren’t the exception anymore and the latest addition to the list of getting called off is Road Safety World Series. The tournament was witnessing some big crowds with the legendary cricketers taking the field. Rather the organisers had first decided to play all the matches behind closed doors at the DY Patil Stadium.

However, the players had a long meeting with the organisers before the final decision was taken. The likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Carl Hooper, Irfan Pathan and Jonty Rhodes among many others were rolling the clock back. The fans were ecstatic to see their childhood heroes take the field again and the tournament was getting a huge response. It is only unfortunate that the competition has been called off due to coronavirus outbreak.

Sportstar confirmed the news in a report which also stated that the official announcement will be made soon regarding the tournament being called off. The report also added that the Road Safety World Series has been postponed for now and might be played either in May or October depending on the availability of the players.

Though the organisers had decided to play the matches in empty stadiums, the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan, Marvan Atapattu and Rangana Herath had already left for Sri Lanka citing the Coronavirus threat. Moreover, the rest of the overseas players are expected to fly out over the course of Thursday and Friday.

IPL 2020 future remains dark

Even as the country’s health ministry has issued a notification to the public to avoid mass gatherings. The upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is under threat now. The only option left with the BCCI now if to hold the competition behind the closed doors. Even then, the foreign players won’t be available to play in the league until April 15 as the Government has upheld the foreign visa until then.

The IPL Governing Council is set to meet on March 14 to discuss the fate of the tournament and it remains to be seen if they decide to play in empty stadiums.