Coronavirus Outbreak: IPL can be played behind closed doors, T20 World Cup cannot, says Australia's Glenn Maxwell

Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell believes a rescheduled IPL can be held behind closed doors but it will be difficult to justify conducting the upcoming T20 World Cup without fans cheering from the stands.

Both the 13th IPL and T20 World Cup are uncertain at the moment with the worsening COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than one lakh people globally.

One of the options for BCCI is to host the IPL in the October-November window if the ICC decides to postpone the T20 World Cup (18 October - 15 November). There has also been talks of conducting the tournaments behind closed doors.

One of the stalwarts of T20 cricket, Maxwell feels if crowds weren’t possible for either of the two events, the IPL would be a better option to go ahead.

“… it’s going to be hard for us to have crowds. I think if IPL goes ahead they can probably survive without any crowds, but I can’t see the T20 World Cup surviving without any people there,” Maxwell told ABC Grandstand.

“It’s going to be hard for us to justify having a World Cup when we can’t get people into the grounds. So I can’t see it happening in the near future. We’ve got to take care of everyone’s health and wellbeing.”

IPL, which was deferred till 14 April, is headed towards an indefinite postponement as India braced for a lockdown extension to contain the rapidly-spreading coronavirus.

The T20 World Cup, on the other hand, is scheduled to be held Down Under in October-November but it all depends on how the coronavirus is contained by Australia and other nations.

The deadly disease has brought all sports activities, including cricket, to a halt across the globe.

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