After the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has recently requested to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to travel in Sri Lanka for the limited-overs series in mid-July, the BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal has recently hinted positive signal for this tour. However, a BCCI official feels that the India tour of Sri Lanka in mid-July is close to impossible according to the present scenario.
The novel COVID-19 or coronavirus has forced to postpone many events globally, including cricket matches. Moreover, the upcoming cricket fixtures are also doubtful due to the same reason as many countries are still struggling to defeat this virus.
According to the FTP schedule, India will tour to Sri Lanka in June-July 2020 for the three-match ODI and three-match T20I series. Recently, the SLC sent an email to the BCCI by offering for this upcoming tour in mid-July.
Arun Dhumal has recently claimed that the BCCI is ready for this tour if the upcoming government directives support international travel. However, he also added that they wouldn’t compromise the safety and health of the team.
A BCCI official has now clarified that it is almost impossible to tour in Sri Lanka in mid-July. The official has emphasised first to control the inside condition of the country as some players are stuck in the danger zone.
The official told IANS, “I would say it is close to impossible at present. Firstly, we need to take one step at a time in the current scenario and you do realise that some of our players are stuck in Mumbai and Bengaluru — two zones which are highly affected by the pandemic.
“Without even going into the question on whether the Indian team would travel without the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma among others, I would say will international travel be permissible? So, we all need to wait and watch how things unfold.”
The Indian board will obviously try to honour all its commitments: BCCI Official
However, the official has also hinted that the BCCI can agree to travel in Sri Lanka in the later dates when the situation will move to the better position. The official has also opened up that their present priority is to begin the domestic cricket safely.
The official added, “But keeping in mind how efficiently the government has looked to fight the battle against the pandemic, I doubt we will be in a position to travel outside the country by mid-July. The BCCI will obviously try to honour all its commitments, if not now, then at a later date which suits both boards involved.
“But looking at the current scenarios, safety is priority. Also, to get cricketers in the red zone to come out and travel to a green zone is currently not allowed. So, if the government does in the near future allow that, we will have to see what happens from there on and if we can then start domestic cricket. Domestic cricket is the way forward at present.”
India last played an international match in early March during the Christchurch Test against the hosts New Zealand. Later, their first ODI of the three-match home ODI series against South Africa at Dharamsala (12th March 2020) was abandoned due to the rain washout. But the next two matches of that series was postponed amid coronavirus outbreak.