The India-South Africa series is all set to be staged as per the schedule, albeit the rest of the two ODIs will be played in front of empty stands. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed that it will host the next two ODIs in Lucknow and Kolkata but there will be no public in the stands.
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Despite the coronavirus threat, the board allowed fans to witness the opening ODI in Dharamsala on Thursday. Many ongoing football leagues are being played with no crowd and the BCCI has now decided to follow the suit.
NEWS: The remaining two ODIs of the ongoing series between India and South Africa to be played behind closed doors #INDvsSA
Read More here ?https://t.co/OU1BLRfg0v pic.twitter.com/r0QQNTJUlX
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 12, 2020
Although there is no word on IPL yet. The board is set to table a meeting on Saturday to take a final decision on it. Since the Indian Government has suspended foreign visas until April 15, many overseas players are confirmed to miss first two weeks of the league.
There are high chances of the league being pushed to mid-April so all the players get their visas. In this case, the board will have to organise many double-headers to complete the league by the end of May. BCCI had earlier scrapped Saturday double-headers for the upcoming season.
The South African players are already in India for the ongoing series and they might also return back if the league is delayed.
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Meanwhile, the second ODI of the series takes place on Sunday (March 15). The third and the final ODI is scheduled to take place on March 18. There was no action in the opening ODI in Dharamsala due to rain in Northern India. In September 2019 as well, the opening game (T20I) between the two nations was washed out due to due to rain.