A few weeks ago, towards the end of February, there was a lot of chatter around India’s tour of New Zealand and what it meant for the future of Indian cricket. Post the gruelling tour, the focus was on the biggest franchise-based league, Indian Premier League 2020.
However, within the first week of March, the outbreak of the coronavirus dented the world of sport. Upcoming bilateral competitions were being pushed to later dates, a few even called off due to the health concerns raised by the virus.
South Africa’s tour of India was called off after the first ODI was abandoned due to rain, New Zealand’s tour of Australia came to a premature end after the hosts picked up a 71-run win from the first ODI.
On March 13, it was announced that the IPL was being postponed to April 15, and on the same day, England’s tour of Sri Lanka was called off. A day later, BCCI announced that they were putting a hold on domestic tournaments such as the Irani Trophy scheduled to take place over the next few weeks.
Over the next week, all the series and tournaments planned for March and April were either called off or postponed indefinitely. The PSL knockout stages were cancelled only hours before the two semifinals as a global lockdown was put into place, forcing cricketers into self-isolation.
Since March 16th, the world of sports has been on hold and while we wait for the next update on when the action resumes, here’s a list of series and tournaments that have either been called off or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
List of cricket tournaments cancelled or called off due to COVID-19
Indian Premier League 2020 postponed
- IPL 2020 was originally scheduled to take place on March 29, but has been pushed to April 15.
India v SA ODI series postponed
- The first ODI of the three match series was abandoned due to rain, and the next two were called off due to the pandemic.
PSL 2020 semis and finals postponed
- The semifinals were scheduled to take place on March 17th, and the final on March 18th.
Australia v New Zealand Chappell-Hadlee series cancelled
- The final two ODI matches were cancelled after Australia picked up a 71-run win in the first ODI.
England County Championship 2020 postponed
- It was also announced by the England Cricket Board (ECB) that no cricket will be played in England till May 28th.
England tour of Sri Lanka postponed
- The two Test matches due to begin on March 19th (Galle) and 27th March (Colombo) have been postponed.
Indian domestic tournaments postponed
- Irani Cup (18 March – 22 March), Senior Women’s and U19 ODI knockout, Senior Women’s One-Day Challenger, Women’s U19 T20 Challenger Trophy, Women’s U23 knockout, Women’s U23 One-Day Challenger have all be postponed.
Bangladesh’s tour of Pakistan final leg postponed
- Bangladesh were scheduled to play an ODI on April 1 in Karachi, followed by a Test match on April 5.
Bangladesh’s tour of Ireland postponed
- Bangladesh were scheduled to play three ODIs and 4 T20Is against Ireland beginning on May 14.
Ireland tour of Zimbabwe postponed
- Ireland were to play a series consisting of 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is beginning on April 2.
Australia’s Sheffield Shield final called off
- The summit clash of Australia’s domestic tournament was called off, with New South Wales declared as the winners of the competition.
South Africa’s domestic season final round cancelled
- Lions were declared as the champions of the 4-Day Domestic Series, Dolphins emerged as the winners of the Momentum One-Day Cup.
New Zealand’s Plunkett Shield cancelled
- Wellington were crowned as the champions of this year’s competition.
T20 leagues cancelled
- Everest Premier League (March 14)
- ACA Africa T20 Cup (March 21)
- European Cricket League [ECLT20] (May 31)
Dhaka Premier League List-A matches postponed
- The matches scheduled to be played on March 18th and 19th have been pushed to a later date.
Netherlands tour of Namibia in Windhoek cancelled
- Netherlands and Namibia were set to square off in a series consisting of two ODIs and four T20Is.
Asia XI v World XI in Bangladesh cancelled
- The much-awaited clashes were to take place on March 21 and March 22.
ICC Qualifying events postponed
- The ICC said in a statement that all the qualifying events leading to the upcoming World Cups will be pushed to a later date.
Australia women’s tour of South Africa cancelled
- A three-match ODI series and a set of three T20Is were scheduled to be contested between the two sides but have been cancelled.
Road Safety World Series postponed
- The Road Safety World Series featuring India Legends, Australia Legends, Sri Lanka Legends, South Africa Legends and West Indies Legends was pushed to a later date after just four matches.
West Indies Championship 2020 cancelled
- The final two rounds of the competition were cancelled with Barbados declared champions.
Given that there is no clarity about when various lockdowns will end in the affected countries, we could see many more tournaments scheduled for late 2020 either postponed or cancelled as well.
With the most recent cricket match being contested only back in the third week of March, cricket fans will hope to see their stars return to take the field as early as possible.
