COVID-19: BCCI cancels India's tours to Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe
Jun 12, 2020
Mumbai (Maharastra) [India], June 12 : After suspending the Sri Lanka tour, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday cancelled India's tour to Zimbabwe owing to the current threat of COVID-19.
Men in Blue were originally scheduled to travel to the island nation from June 24 for three ODIs and as many T20Is and to Zimbabwe for a series comprising three ODIs starting on August 22.
"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday announced that the Indian Cricket Team will not travel to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe owing to the current threat of COVID-19," the BCCI said in a release.
BCCI further stated that it "will conduct a camp for its contracted players only when it is completely safe to train outdoors".
"The BCCI is determined to take steps towards the resumption of international and domestic cricket, but it will not rush into any decision that will jeopardize the efforts put in by the Central and State governments and several other respective agencies in containing the spread of the coronavirus," the statement added.
The coronavirus pandemic has taken a huge toll on sports across the globe. The T20 World Cup is also under threat because of the deadly virus. The premier tournament is slated to be played from October 18-November 15 in Australia this year.
However, deferring a decision on the upcoming Men's T20 World Cup and the Women's Cricket World Cup 2021 until next month, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said that it will continue to explore a "number of contingency plans" regarding the future of these events.
The Indian team was last seen in action in the home series against South Africa. However, the series was postponed, after the first ODI, in-between due to the coronavirus pandemic. The first game of the series was abandoned due to rain in Dharamshala and the remaining matches were suspended.
Men in Blue have successfully toured New Zealand earlier this year. The side won the T20I series but ended up losing the ODI and Test series.
