In a country like India where there is the biggest number of cricket fans, the matches either getting postponed or suspended is in itself a piece of big news. The spread of coronavirus has created a situation where suspending the games has become important for stopping the spread of the virus. Indian captain Virat Kohli had also shared the message with the fans. He urged them to take precautionary measure to be safe.
On Friday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) called off the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa.
The first match was declared abandoned whereas the Indian team reached the venue (Lucknow) for the second match but then as per the mutual understanding the decision was taken to call-off the series.
Taking to Twitter, Kohli advised the fans to take all the precautions for halting the expansion of coronavirus.
“Let’s stay strong and fight the #COVID19 outbreak by taking all precautionary measures. Stay safe, be vigilant and most importantly remember, prevention is better than cure. Please take care, everyone,” Virat Kohli wrote.
Let's stay strong and fight the #COVID19 outbreak by taking all precautionary measures. Stay safe, be vigilant and most importantly remember, prevention is better than cure. Please take care everyone.
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) March 14, 2020
Meanwhile, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is also postponed till 15th April.
Earlier, the league was scheduled to start from 29th March with Mumbai Indians (MI) competing against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the tournament opener.
CSK has also suspended their practice sessions at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, which had started from 2 March.
The virus has affected the world as the ongoing series between Australia and New Zealand has also been suspended and many further tours stand cancelled.
As of now, worldwide more than 1,40,000 cases have been reported while in India the cases have risen to 83 as reported by the government and two deaths have also been reported so far in India.
Well, states like Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana, and Delhi have restricted public gathering.