Hyderabad: In an ideal world, Australian stars Steve Smith and David Warner would have led Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad, respectively, in an Indian Premier League (IPL) game on this day, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, all activities have come to a grinding halt.
The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly has admitted that the chances of the 2020 season of the IPL starting any time soon is bleak.
With the number of coronavirus infections and deaths continuing to rise, a number of states around the country have extended the lockdown which was initially supposed to end on April 15 - the same date that IPL 2020 was postponed after the BCCI deemed that it would not be possible to start on March 29.
But to keep the heat on, both franchises have decided to take on one another in a game of Battleship 4pm, when ideally the T20 match would have also kicked off here.
“MATCHDAY! We take on @SunRisers today in a game of Battleship! Ship Crossed swords. Everyone will have the best seat in the house for this one,” Royals said in a tweet.”
“Today would’ve been #SRHvRR under normal circumstances! Instead of cricket, we’re bringing a game of #Battleship on Twitter to keep you all entertained today!” said Sunrisers on their Twitter handle.
Taking to Twitter, Warner wrote: “Sun TV Group (SunRisers Hyderabad) is donating Rs 10 crore towards Covid-19 relief measures”.
Warner’s teammate Steve Smith on Tuesday said that he was hoping that the IPL is played out at some stage this year rather than getting cancelled due to the pandemic.
