Earlier this week, the start of IPL 2020 was shifted from March 29 to April 15, amid the outbreak of the novel coronavirus [COVID-19]. On Saturday, March 14, franchise owners met BCCI to discuss the ongoing situation.

“If it is [postponed till] April 15, then, in any case, 15 days are gone, it has to be a truncated one. How truncated, how many games, I can’t say at the moment,” BCCI president Sourav Ganguly told reporters.

JUST IN: The start of the IPL has been pushed back to April 15.https://t.co/Vjfl1Npt6C

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) March 13, 2020

Later in the day, BCCI announced that all domestic games in the country had also been suspended.

“Safety is most important for the players and at the moment, [with] what’s going around in the world and India with the government directives this is all we can do. We have postponed the remaining domestic matches.”

1/2 Wonderful to meet all the Franchise owners ‘off the field’ so to say. The meeting by @Bcci and @ipl was to reiterate what all of us feel…safety first of the spectators, players management & cities we play in. All directives of the health agencies & govt to be followed..

— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) March 14, 2020

A PTI report suggests that as many as seven options emerged during discussions in Mumbai; from having a group of four teams each, which vie for a spot in the playoffs, to extending double-headers to weekdays, to condensing the tournament to just a few venues – multiple possibilities were floated. Another suggestion had teams playing all 60 games in a shorter period, behind closed doors.

Wonderful to meet all the @IPL team owners today. Thank you to @SGanguly99 @JayShah and Brijesh Patelji for organizing this meeting. As much as we all want IPL to happen the health and safety of the public, players, staff and all others is of paramount importance – we will (1/2)

— Parth Jindal (@ParthJindal11) March 14, 2020

In the past, the tournament has been hosted in South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. However, given the scale of the ongoing pandemic, the possibility of shifting it out of India wasn’t discussed.

[breakout id=”0″][/breakout]

“It will be re-assessed every week. I can’t say at the moment [about any deadline]. It has to be worked around. As much as we want to host the IPL, we also need to be careful about the security,” Ganguly added.

Kings XI Punjab co-owner Ness Wadia insisted that the safety of the players and spectators was of prime importance. “BCCI, IPL and [official broadcaster] Star [Sports] are clear that we are not looking at financial loss,” he said.