It’s fine if the IPL doesn’t happen, human life comes first: Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh, the Indian spinner, isn’t in favour of the Indian Premier League (IPL) taking place amidst the coronavirus pandemic. The tournament was earlier scheduled to start on March 29, but had to be delayed until April 15. However, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the lockdown would extend until May 3, the popular T20 league even had to be deferred indefinitely.

Talks about holding the IPL behind closed doors and without the foreign recruits have also been doing the rounds for quite some time now. Harbhajan reckons that with lesser chances of international cricketers touring overseas, the future of IPL 2020 is well and truly under the clouds. He was clear cut in saying that cricket can’t be greater than life.

We can’t force to have cricket, says Harbhajan Singh

“Travelling from and to will be restricted in many countries in the coming months. I don’t see international players travelling in the near future. I do not know what decisions the (Indian) government and BCCI take on the future of IPL,” Harbhajan told to Hindustan Times.

“Honestly, even if IPL doesn’t happen for the first time in 13 years I think that is fine. We can’t force to have cricket seeing the serious situation we all are in. Human life comes first, cricket can wait,” the veteran stated.

In order to prepare for the IPL, the Chennai Super Kings already started with their preparatory camp. MS Dhoni, who hasn’t played any cricket since the 2019 edition of the World Cup, was also a part of it. To their dismay, it had to be shelved, bearing in mind the global scenario.

“This is a testing time for everyone. Honestly, I am not even thinking about cricket at the moment. Saving lives and practicing solidarity are the most important things on my agenda. When we began the CSK camp in the beginning of March we didn’t anticipate this as we had large crowds coming in even for practice sessions,” he added.

Recently, Sourav Ganguly, the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), also said that there won’t be any cricket in the near future to the current situation.