India-South Africa series cancelled due to coronavirus threat

• The India vs South Africa series ODI series has been cancelled due to coronavirus.
• The South African team will soon return to their homes from Delhi.
• The IPL has also been postponed to April 15 due to the disease.

The coronavirus outbreak has a new victim and this time, it is the India vs South Africa ODI series. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today postponed the IPL 2020 and has now decided to call off the India South Africa series.

The first match between the two sides which was scheduled to be held in Dharamshala was washed out due to rain. The two sides had reached Lucknow earlier today for the second match.

The second match was supposed to be held in Lucknow on March 16 and the third match in Kolkata on March 18.

The matches were to be played behind closed doors

The BCCI had yesterday announced that the two remaining ODI matches will be played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak. Now, the matches have been abandoned all together due to the deadly disease.

Move comes after IPL postponement

The decision to cancel the two ODI matches comes just a few hours after the IPL 2020 was postponed from March 29 to April 15.

“With the IPL being postponed, it only made sense that at this point of time, this series is also called off. The country is facing a serious pandemic,” a BCCI official told PTI.

The official added that the South African team will soon leave for their home. “The South African team will come to Delhi and leave by taking the earliest available flight,” the official added.

IPL may meet the same fate

At the moment it is not clear why the closed-door games were cancelled. The IPL 2020 is also expected to be played behind closed doors and the cancellation of the ODI series may be a hint of things to come for the IPL 2020.

See also:

IPL 2020 postponed to April 15 as the game will have no ‘charisma’ without foreign players

Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore will be worst hit if IPL is played behind closed doors