India axe Zimbabwe cricket tour over coronavirus

NEW DELHI (AFP): India called off their cricket tour of Zimbabwe over the coronavirus on Friday, a day after their upcoming trip to Sri Lanka was also cancelled.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India added that it would not “rush into any decision” about resuming training camps for India’s players.

After Sri Lanka’s board revealed on Thursday that this month’s visit by India was off, the tour of Zimbabwe in August had also looked in jeopardy.

“The Indian cricket team will not travel to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe owing to the current threat of COVID-19,” a BCCI statement said.

India had been due to travel to Sri Lanka on 24 June for three ODIs and three Twenty20s, and then launch a three-ODI Zimbabwe tour on 22 August.

The BCCI are hoping to squeeze in the lucrative Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament, on hold since March, before the T20 World Cup which is scheduled to take place in October and November.India’s next trip is a major, money-spinning tour of Australia for three ODIs, four Tests and three T20s starting in October. Although India’s government has allowed stadiums to reopen during the national coronavirus lockdown, the BCCI said it was not about to resume training.

“The BCCI will conduct a camp for its contracted players only when it is completely safe to train outdoors,” said BCCI. “The BCCI is determined to take steps towards the resumption of international and domestic cricket, but it will not rush into any decision that will jeopardise the efforts put in by the central and state governments.” 

India has been reporting almost 10,000 new cases every day, with the total death toll standing at about 8,500.