'If IPL doesn't happen for first time in 13 years...' - Harbhajan Singh throws his weight on future of showpiece tournament

With cricket taking a backseat due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a sense of uncertainty as in whether major upcoming tournaments will go as scheduled. The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 has already been postponed indefinitely whereas there are question marks on the ICC T20 World Cup, scheduled to be played in October-November. Veteran Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh is of the view that international players won’t be travelling in the near future to play cricket while adding he will be absolutely fine if the authorities decide not to conduct the IPL this year.

Harbhajan further said that cricket can’t be forced in amid the current situation while adding the game can wait as human life comes first.

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“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. 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,” Bhajji told a leading daily.

Harbhajan, who would have been playing for CSK in the 13th edition of the IPL if everything was normal. The 39-year-old said that he is not even thinking of cricket and the main agenda in his books is to save lives and practice solidarity.

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“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. Within days and weeks the world turned upside down; nobody is talking about cricket or sports. Everybody is just concerned about saving lives,” he said.

Meanwhile, speculations are rife that the BCCI is looking for an alternate window to conduct the IPL later in the year 2020.