Road Safety World Series: Entire Pune leg called off amidst coronavirus threat

Indian cricket fans are now feeling the first consequences of the Coronavirus epidemic as the well-received Road Safety World Series will now be played inside closed doors while some of its matches have been postponed indefinitely. The tournament began last Saturday to much fanfare at the Wankhede Stadium as crowds saw the return of local heroes like Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. Here are the details about the fate of the tournament.

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Road Safety World Series to be left incomplete due to Coronavirus epidemic?

The Road Safety World Series began on March 7 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and then moved on to the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The tournament was scheduled to move to Pune for four matches before it returned to Navi Mumbai to conclude the tournament with two final matches. It is now being reported that due to the Coronavirus epidemic, the Maharashtra government is deciding to cancel all public gatherings and these cricket matches have come under the radar.

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The tournament has been widely popular and the first match saw an attendance of 26,000 fans in Mumbai. If the reports are to be believed, the Pune leg of the tournament has been called off for now and its future remains uncertain. The final two matches, which were set to happen in Navi Mumbai, may also be played without an audience. The India Legends team was doing pretty well in the tournament and won both their matches.

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Virender Sehwag helped India Legends win their first match against the West Indies and in the match against Sri Lanka, Irfan Pathan rose to the occasion and played a match-winning knock. However, the India vs. South Africa ODI at Dharmasala on Thursday is being played in front of an audience. Currently, there is heavy speculation regarding the future and the scheduling of IPL 2020 which is due to begin on March 29. IPL 2020's first match is set to be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

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