India cricketer KL Rahul was looking forward to playing in this year’s edition of the  Indian Premier League (IPL), which was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The BCCI had suspended the IPL indefinitely after initially postponing it. With the cases of COVID-19 becoming higher, the governing body had to call the short after the India government also declared total lockdown, which lasted for over two months. The IPL was initially scheduled for March 29 before it was postponed.

The India batsman was supposed to captain his franchise Kings XI Punjab in this year’s edition as he was looking forward to leading his lads to victory.

With the cases under control now, the BCCI is planning to host it, but it may clash with the T20 World Cup that will be played in Australia in October. After Sourav Ganguly, BCCI President expressed confidence that this year’s edition will be held, the body is hoping that the T-20 is moved to accommodate the IPL.

Rahul became Kings XI Punjab skipper after Ravichandran Ashwin, was traded to Delhi Capitals. Ashwin had been the team’s leader between 2018 and 2019.

Speaking with teammate Mayank Agarwal during the show ‘Open Nets with Mayank’  uploaded on IPL’s official website, Rahul said he had missed the India premier tournament a lot as he was looking forward to a big season.

Rahul who felt the team now has exciting players in its line-up said he was looking forward to playing with Chris Gayle, Agarwal and Maxi and a few other recruits.

When asked by Mayank, Gayle, who was also part of the video chat, said this was the longest he has been at home as he misses cricket as a whole.

Gayle said in a normal circumstance; he would be playing for some franchise if not for the pandemic. He also noted that the pandemic is just part of nature that has to be accepted.

 
 
Written by: Oladipupo Mojeed