BCCI suspends all domestic cricket matches till further notice due to COVID-19 outbreak

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday suspended all domestic tournaments until further notice as a precautionary measure due to the rising concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak.

UPDATE: In view of the ongoing Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19) outbreak, all domestic matches have been put on hold. More details 👉 https://t.co/4J2CtXzvr9 pic.twitter.com/RopOjSfYZX

— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) March 14, 2020

The 2019-20 Irani Trophy match, to be played between the newly-crowned Ranji Trophy champions Saurashtra and the Rest of India team, was initially scheduled from March 18th-22nd at Rajkot. It was rumored that the game would be played behind closed doors. But, with the Indian cricket board suspending all domestic tournaments until further notice, this fixture will also not go ahead as scheduled.

Here's BCCI's statement on the issue:

"In view of the ongoing Novel Corona Virus outbreak, all matches of the Paytm Irani Cup, Senior Women One-Day Knockout, Vizzy Trophy, Senior Women One-Day Challenger, Women Under 19 One-Day knockout, Women’s Under 19 T20 League, Super League and knockout, Women Under 19 T20 Challenger Trophy, Women Under 23 knockout, Women’s Under 23 One-Day Challenger have been put on hold till further notice."

While it was announced earlier that the remaining two fixtures (at Lucknow on March 15th and Kolkata on March 18th) of the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa will be played behind closed doors, the series has now been postponed.

After the postponement (and rumored cancelation) of the IPL and the cancelation of the India-South Africa series, this latest development has certainly dealt a fresh blow to the Indian cricket enthusiasts.