DHAKA, April 15, 2020 (BSS)-The Dhaka Premier League (DPL), the country’s most coveted cricket tournament has been postponed for an indefinite period due to countrywide lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) took the decision on Wednesday afternoon as the number of COVID-19 patients are increasing in the country.
The country’s List A tournament was first postponed on March 16 following the completion of first round as per the government directive due to the spread of coronavirus infection across the country.
Later, on March 19 Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) declared postponement of all cricket activities in the country.
The CCDM, the custodian of the Dhaka clubs had earlier decided to wait till April 15 to assess the situation. However, with no improvement of the situation and the country in unofficial lockdown since March 26 till April 25, CCDM had no other option except postponing the matches.
“On March 16, the Dhaka Premier League was suspended as per the government directive. After further discussion among the BCB directors the BCB president [Nazmul Hasan] further clarified that the league will be suspended until we reach a situation where all activities can start,” CCDM chairman Kazi Inam said here on Wednesday.
“As the country is in an effective lockdown since March 26th until April 25th, it is not possible for us to set a new date to start the Dhaka Premier League at this point. The health and well being of everyone involved with our cricket community is our first concern,” Inam added.
It is however not sure that how the CCDM would fit this season’s DPL in the domestic calendar, which is filled up by other cricketing activities after July.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s death toll from coronavirus rose to 50 with four more deaths today and recorded the highest number of 219 fresh positive cases in a single day since its first detection in the country on March 8.
The total number of coronavirus cases in the country now stands at 1,231. At the same time, seven cases had recovered fully today, taking the number of recovered cases in the country to 49.