The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League [ IPL ] has been suspended “till further notice” by the BCCI, a day after the Indian government extended the ongoing nation-wide lockdown till May 3.

A statement by BCCI read: “Due to the evolving global health concerns regarding COVID-19 and lockdown measures implemented by the Government of India to contain the spread of the pandemic, the IPL Governing Council of the BCCI has decided that the IPL 2020 season will be suspended till further notice.”

IPL 2020 was originally scheduled to be held from March 29 to May 24, but was postponed till April 15 following India’s initial three-week lockdown amid the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. On Wednesday, franchise owners were informed about the latest suspension, which essentially rules out the possibility of the tournament taking place in the summer window.

“Yes, the BCCI has informed us and we also believe that there are no two ways about this that at present we cannot have an IPL,” a franchise official was quoted as saying by IANS. “Let us hope for the best and hopefully, we can have one later in the year when things return to normalcy.”

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With no cricket possible in the near future, the T20 tournament’s governing council would be aiming at a window before the men’s T20 World Cup, if the global situation takes a turn for the better in the second half of the year.

In the past, there was also discussion about hosting the tournament behind closed doors, or restricted to only certain venues. The financial ramifications of cancelling the tournament are enormous, with BCCI expected to bear losses amounting to INR 2000 crore if the 2020 edition gets called off altogether.

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