Coronavirus Outbreak: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly says situation 'not in favour of any kind of sport, forget IPL'

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly is not optimistic about this year's Indian Premier League (IPL) amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and feels that the flu-like virus makes it difficult for any kind of sport to take place.

File image of BCCI president Sourav Ganguly. AP

In an interview with The New Indian Express, Ganguly said that the BCCI is monitoring the situation and at the moment, the situation is not favouring the IPL.

"We keep monitoring developments. At the present moment, we can’t say anything. And what is there to say anyway? Airports are shut, people are stuck at home, offices are locked down, nobody can go anywhere. And it seems this is how it's going to be till the middle of May. Where will you get players from, where do players travel. It’s just simple common sense that at the moment, nothing is in favour of any kind of sport anywhere in the world, forget IPL," Ganguly said.

The IPL was scheduled to start from 29 March but was suspended until 15 April due to the pandemic. With various state governments in India extending the current 21-day lockdown, the IPL is headed towards an indefinite postponement. However, BCCI is yet to give an official announcement about the postponement.

Ganguly said an update regarding the IPL will come on Monday.

Terming the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as "unbelievable", Ganguly said he hasn't experienced anything like this ever in his life.

"It’s terrible. In my 46 years of life, I never experienced anything like this. Not just that, the world has never seen anything like this. And I hope nobody sees this situation again. The entire world is thinking how many people may die in the next two weeks! It’s unbelievable."