The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to postponement the knockout stage matches of the Cooch Behar Trophy following some positive Covid-19 cases within the team environment, it announced on Monday.
Issuing a statement, the board said that keeping everyone’s health and safety in mind, the knockout matches to be held in Pune have been put on hold until further notice.
“The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced the postponement of the knockout stage matches of the Cooch Behar Trophy following some positive COVID-19 cases within the team environment,” the board’s statement said.
“Keeping everyone’s health and safety in mind, the knockout matches to be held in Pune have been put on hold until further notice. The BCCI had conducted 93 matches across 20 venues in the league stage. The Board will continue to monitor the situation and identify a new window once the situation improves,” it added.
Notably, as many as 93 matches across 20 venues were held in the league stage following which eight teams – Mumbai, Maharashtra, Vidarbha, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Bengal had qualified for the Cooch Behar Trophy knockouts.
The qualified teams were scheduled to play their four-day knockout matches (Jharkhand v Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan v Mumbai, Maharashtra v Vidarbha and Bengal v Haryana) in Pune starting from Tuesday (January 11).
Meanwhile, in a mail to the state associations, secretary Jay Shah said: “Unfortunately, there have been Covid 19 cases within the team environment and we are now forced postpone the knockout stage, keeping the health and safety of everyone concerned. I thank your understanding and for supporting us in our decision to postpone the domestic tournaments in view of the rising Covid-19 cases across India.”
“As estimated, the caseload shot up immediately. I believe a timely call was taken and it will help us curb the spread of the new variant which is more infectious. At the time, it was decided that Cooch Behar Trophy, which had already started, can continue as we had successfully completed the league stage involving 93 matches across 20 venues. We were set for the knockout stage in Pune with quarterfinals from tomorrow but with just 7 matches left in the tournament, the virus has raised its head again,” he added.
Significantly, the board’s decision comes after a sudden spike in Covid-19 cases, particularly in Maharashtra, and also due to detection of cases of infection among the participating teams.
Earlier, the BCCI had postponed the Ranji Trophy, Col CK Nayudu Trophy and the Senior Women’s T20 League due to rising number of Covid cases in the country.
While the Ranji Trophy and the Col CK Nayudu Trophy were scheduled to begin in January, the women’s affair was scheduled to commence next month.