TNPL 2021 Postponed – Covid-19 TNPL: The fifth edition of the Tamil Nadu Premier League has been indefinitely suspended due to lockdown restrictions in Tamil Nadu. On April 28, Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) announced that the TNPL Season 5 will start from June 4 with the final slated for July 4. However, with Tamil Nadu going through the COVID-19 crisis and the state under lockdown, the tournament has been put on hold until further notice, TNPL CEO, Prasanna Kannan confirmed to InsideSport.
TNPL 2021 Postponed: Prasanna Kannan, the Chief Executive Officer of the Tamil Nadu Premier League, said that once the state government eases lockdown, the tournament committee will take a call on rescheduling accordingly.
Also Read: TNPL 2020: Fifth edition of TNPL 2020 postponed again due to COVID-19
“There is a lockdown effect in Tamil Nadu now. So, once we have an idea in terms of when it is going to be relaxed, only then we can take a call. Since we do not have clarity on when the restrictions will be eased, we have postponed the tournament. We were supposed to start the tournament on June 4,” he told InsideSport.
TNPL 2021 Postponed: Tamil Nadu Premier League was one of the domestic T20 tournaments that received BCCI’s clearance in April. With approvals from the Government of Tamil Nadu, TNCA released the schedule on April 28 and promised to conduct the matches in strict bio-bubbles.
The first match between Dindigul Dragons and Tirupur Tamizhans was scheduled to begin on June 4 in Tirunelveli. However, considering Chennai’s COVID-19 spike, no matches were scheduled at the MA Chidambaram Stadium at that time. The final was set to be held in Salem on July 4.
“TNCA will follow strict Standard operating measures of bio bubble with frequent testing and quarantine rules as is being done for BCCI Domestic matches, International matches and with IPL,” the TNCA said in a statement. TNPL-5, originally slated for 2020, was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
TNPL 2021 Postponed: However, soon Tamil Nadu’s situation worsened with the southern state recording over 30,000 daily cases, the highest among all Indian states at present. Currently, the state is under strict lockdown until May 24 and it is expected to be extended till the end of the month or longer until the situation improves. Hence, the TNPL 2021 had to be suspended indefinitely.
“We are monitoring the situation. We will have a discussion with the government and then once we have a decision, we will announce the revised schedule,” Prasanna Kannan told InsideSport.
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