With growing concerns over coronavirus in the country, the Indian Premier League (IPL) governing council announced that it will meet on March 14 to discuss the current situation and the upcoming edition of the league. The 13th edition of IPL is scheduled to commence on March 29 and the first match will be played between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Earlier on Wednesday, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that the IPL should happen behind closed doors or it should be postponed after 10 positive cases of coronavirus were confirmed in the state. He further added that the final decision will be taken in the Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday.
"In the current situation, it is not possible to schedule the IPL match in a packed stadium. We want it to happen in closed doors or postpone it later. The final decision will be taken in the assembly session tomorrow. We all are of the view that IPL should not take place at this time. It is very dangerous to conduct the IPL in this situation," Tope told reporters.
Also, the central government has suspended all visas to India till April 15 as part of measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in India has jumped to over 60. Out of those cases, 36 are Indian citizens.
World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic and expressed deep concern both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction.