India vs South Africa 2020: Lucknow and Kolkata ODIs called off due to Coronavirus threat

The ODI series between India and South Africa has been called off, according to some BCCI sources, amidst the threat of an outbreak of the Coronavirus. The first game between the two sides, scheduled to take place on March 12 at Dharamshala, was washed out.

India's remaining two ODIs against South Africa in Lucknow and Kolkata called off in wake of COVID-19 pandemic: BCCI official

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 13, 2020

The second and third ODIs were supposed to be played at Lucknow on March 15 and at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on March 18 respectively. But after consulting with their stakeholders, BCCI have decided to call off the series. The South African team is likely to fly out back to their homeland soon.

“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,” a top BCCI official told PTI.

“The South African team will come to Delhi and leave by taking at the earliest available flight,” he added.

The threat of Coronavirus has also affected the IPL as its start is now postponed from 29th March to 15th April with a view of preventing the outbreak of the virus. This step is being taken in order to preserve the health of the players, the staff, and a large number of spectators that would flock the stadium to see the action unfold. There have been 80 cases of Coronavirus in India thus far and out of the 1,00,000 cases worldwide, the death-count has gone beyond 5,000.