TNCA suspends Tamil Nadu Premier League 2021 indefinitely owing to COVID-19

The second wave of the ongoing novel coronavirus has wretched havoc in India. The deadly virus has also affected the game of cricket severely. A few days back, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suspended the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) due to the potential breach of the bio bubble.

It is now learned that the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association has suspended the fifth edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) for an indefinite time. The development came as the state is under lockdown and it won’t be logistically possible to conduct the league.

The T20 tournament was scheduled to get underway on June 4 with the final on July 4 at the SCF Cricket Ground in Salem. Tamil Nadu’s biggest ground, the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, was not picked for any TNPL 2021 games owing to the rising COVID-19 cases in the city. The authorities will be finalizing the revised schedule for TNPL 2021 only when the lockdown is lifted in Tamil Nadu.

We will announce the revised schedule soon: TNPL’s Chief Executive Officer

Chief Executive Officer of TNPL Prasanna Kannan revealed the news of the postponement of the championship as he reckoned, “There is a lockdown effect in Tamil Nadu now. So, once we have an idea in terms of when it is going to be relaxed, only then can we make a call. Since we do not have clarity on when the restrictions will be eased, we have postponed the tournament. We were supposed to start the tournament on June 4.”

This is not the first time that the league has been shifted. The previous edition of the league was also cancelled due to the Covid-19 scare. Further in the interaction, Kannan assured that they are keeping a close watch on the entire situation and will be discussing the matter with the government to reschedule the tournament at the earliest in the future.

“We are monitoring the situation. We will have a discussion with the government and then once we have a decision, we will announce the revised schedule,” Kannan concluded.