Has IPL 2021 been cancelled? BCCI provides MASSIVE, important clarification to fans

The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) has been indefinitely suspended after multiple positive COVID-19 cases were reported across teams over the past couple of days. The 'IPL 2021 postponed' news was confirmed by IPL chairman Brijesh Patel who said the decision was taken for the safety of all stakeholders.

IPL latest news: Has IPL 2021 been cancelled?

The 'IPL 2021 postponed' news took the internet by storm as fans were left wondering "Has IPL 2021 been cancelled?" To answer the "Is IPL cancelled?" query, no, the tournament has not been called off but has been suspended for the time being. The same was confirmed by a top BCCI official to Republic World.

While speaking to Republic World, the BCCI official said that the IPL 2021 has been suspended and not cancelled. He added that the IPL 2021 resumption date will be decided next week. The official also assured that all IPL 2021 matches will be rescheduled once they get clearance for shifting the entire tournament to Mumbai and added that until then, the teams will remain in the bio-bubble.

Notably, the decision to suspend IPL 2021 was taken after Sunrisers Hyderabad batsman Wriddhiman Saha tested positive for the ungodly virus on Tuesday. The Saha COVID news comes a day after KKR players Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier, as well as, CSK team 2021 CEO Kasi Viswanathan, bowling coach Lakshimpathy Balaji and a bus cleaner tested positive for COVID-19. With three camps (KKR, CSK and SRH) dented with COVID cases, the decision to suspend IPL 2021 seems like an ideal move. It will be interesting to see how the BCCI handles the deteriorating situation and if or not they are able to shift the competition to Mumbai, a city that is gravely affected by the coronavirus.

IPL latest news: Will the tournament be shifted to Mumbai?

According to an ESPNcricinfo report, before the IPL cancelled rumours broke out, the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI was looking to relocate IPL 2021 to Mumbai to curtail the risks after multiple coronavirus cases were reported from both venues (Ahmedabad and Delhi) currently hosting the competition. If the plan sees the light of the day, Mumbai could start hosting matches from the upcoming weekend.

Meanwhile, the biggest challenge for the Sourav Ganguly-led board will be to create entirely new and safe bio-secure bubbles which include finding hotels for the eight IPL franchises to accommodate themselves, as well as, preparing the stadiums. Fortunately, the three main grounds in Mumbai Wankhede Stadium, DY Patil Stadium and Brabourne Stadium were all used for IPL 2021 and are match-ready. While Wankhede Stadium hosted 10 IPL 2021 matches, DY Patil Stadium and Brabourne Stadium were used for training purposes ahead of the start of the tournament.