IPL 2020: Franchises call-off pre-tournament training camps
In a recent update, all the eight IPL franchises have scraped their respective pre-tournament camps until further notice. Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday postponed their training camp, which was scheduled to begin from March 21, in the wake of the novel coronavirus. Chennai Super Kings too, on March 14, decided to cut-short their training sessions, owing to the crisis. Here is more.
RCB suspended the camps as a preventive measure
"Keeping in mind the health and safety of everyone involved, the RCB Training Camp scheduled to start on the 21st of March has been deferred until further notice. We request everyone to follow the guidelines provided by the Health Ministry and stay safe," RCB tweeted.
RCB made the announcement on Twitter
Chennai Super Kings cut-short their training camp on March 14
Earlier, training sessions of Chennai Super Kings were also suspended, owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, along with a bunch of other players. featured in the final session and left the city soon thereafter. In a video tweeted by CSK, Dhoni was seen greeting a number of officials on-field and several fans before leaving.
MS Dhoni meets his fans before leaving
IPL 2020 was postponed from March 29 to April 15
The coronavirus outbreak led to the postponement of IPL from March 29 to April 15. Previously, it was stated that overseas players will only be available post April 15 as the Indian government imposed travel restrictions, except for a few official categories. It was also proposed that the IPL could be played behind closed doors to avoid mass gatherings.
Delhi Government had banned all sporting events
The franchise owners are hoping that some of the state governments, which have denied permission for hosting the IPL matches, will give a go-ahead in case the tournament commences on April 15. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had earlier ruled out any possibility of hosting sporting events involving large gatherings in the national capital. This also included the Indian Premier League.
