Ganguly feels COVID-19 not going anywhere at least till end of 2020 but IPL set to move out

PTI, Jul 7, 2020, 9:33 AM IST

New Delhi: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Monday reckoned the country will have to bear with the COVID-19 pandemic at least till the end of this year or beginning of 2021, effectively ruling out India’s chances of organising the sought-after IPL at home.

Responding to a question on how he looks at the COVID-19 situation in India during a chat with opener Mayank Agarwal, Ganguly said, “I think the next two-three-four months will be a little tough. We will just have to bear it, and by the end of the year or beginning of next year, life should be back to normal.”

The BCCI has already zeroed in on the end September-early November window for the IPL.

The board’s first choice is staging the tournament at home but that is looking increasingly unlikely with India having the third largest caseload of coronavirus behind Brazil and USA.

New Zealand on Monday became the latest country after UAE and Sri Lanka to present an offer to host the IPL in case the billion dollar league can’t be held in India due to rising cases of coronavirus.

Speaking on the show #DadaOpensWithMayank, the former India captain added, “I will wait for the vaccine to come out. Till then, yes, we will have to be a little more careful…we know what’s happening and we don’t want to fall sick. Saliva is an issue. Maybe once the vaccine comes out, just like any other illness, everything will be fine.”

The pandemic may have changed the world forever but the cricketer in Ganguly compared the fast-evolving situation with batting tactics which helps a batsman to play according to the pitches.

“It’s like batting tactic, it’s not same on all pitches, you play differently on slower pitches, you play differently when it turns and you play differently when it is flat. So COVID is at that stage, the stage of recovery,” he said.

“Hopefully, by the end of this year we all should be fine,” Ganguly told Agarwal on the show hosted by the India opener.