India v South Africa ODI Series Called Off Due to Coronavirus

The India vs South Africa ODI series has been called off due to the Coronavirus threat.

(Photo: AP)

With sports bodies across the world making some tough calls due to the Coronavirus, the BCCI has followed-up their decision to postpone the IPL by calling off the ongoing India vs South Africa ODI series.

“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) along with Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Friday announced to reschedule the ongoing ODI series in view of the Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Cricket South Africa will visit India at a later date to play 3 One-day Internationals. The BCCI-CSA will jointly work out the revised schedule,” the BCCI said in an official press release.

The first ODI between the two sides was slated to take place in Dharamsala on Sunday but was washed out without a ball being bowled. The two teams, however, had reached Lucknow on Friday for the second game, when the news of the cancellation came through.

“The South African team will come to Delhi and leave by taking at the earliest available flight,” a BCCI official told PTI.

The two remaining ODIs were already slated to be held behind closed doors due to the government directive, which asked for sporting events to be shut for fans in view of the pandemic.

Earlier in the day, the 13th season of the IPL was pushed to 15 April from its scheduled March 29 start.

India has recorded more than 80 positive cases so far with the global infected count standing at over 100,000.

The death toll because of the virus has gone beyond 5,000 internationally.