The three-match ODI series between India and South Africa has been called off in the face of the growing threat of the coronavirus pandemic.
A BCCI press release said, “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.”
“With the IPL being postponed, it only made sense that at this point of time, this series is also called off. The country is facing a serious pandemic. The South African team will come to Delhi and leave by taking at the earliest available flight,” a top BCCI official told PTI.
It had earlier been announced that the 2nd and 3rd ODIs would be played behind closed doors. The Uttar Pradesh government had advised the BCCI to not hold the 2nd ODI in Lucknow after a patient in the state capital tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.
The change in decision follows the postponement of the Indian Premier League, which announcement was made on Friday morning. The IPL was due to start on March 29 but has been postponed till April 15.
The Indian team reached Lucknow on Friday.
The first match of the series, in Dharamsala, was washed out without a ball being bowled. The second and third ODIs were scheduled to be held in Lucknow (March 15) and Kolkata (March 18).
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.