NEW DELHI: The two remaining ODIs between India and South Africa in Lucknow and Kolkata, were on Friday called off owing to the COVID-19 threat as the country’s sports calendar continued to go haywire because of the global pandemic, PTI reports.
“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.
It bears noting that till the time this report was uploaded, there was no official word on the matter from the BCCI. And till Thursday, the word was that both ODIs would be played “behind closed doors” following the government directive that sporting events be shut for fans in view of the pandemic.
The first ODI between the two sides in Dharamsala was washed out. Both the sides had reached Lucknow on Friday.
“The South African team will come to Delhi and leave by taking the earliest available flight,” said official told the newswire.
The IPL was on Friday pushed to April 15 from its scheduled March 29 start.
India has recorded more than 80 positive cases so far with the global infected count standing at over 100,000.
The death toll because of the virus has gone beyond 5,000 internationally.
