COVID-19: Mumbai Indians player Suryakumar Yadav laments IPL delay, urges people to 'stay home' and 'stay safe'

Referring to the delayed IPL in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, Mumbai Indians batsman Suryakumar Yadav stated that though he mentally felt like being at the Wankhede stadium but was at home and urged people to "stay home" and "stay safe".

"Mentally at Wankhede stadium. But physically at home. This too shall pass. #stayhome #staysafe," Yadav tweeted.

The IPL was scheduled to start from Sunday but due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country, the tournament has been suspended till April 15.

According to the original schedule of the IPL, the opening match of the tournament was to be played between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, March 29.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) sources on Monday said that no final decision has been taken on the fate of this year's Indian Premier League (IPL) yet even as the country is under a 21-day COVID-19 lockdown.

They also went on to say that the board is monitoring the situation."No decision has been taken on IPL yet, we are closely monitoring the situation, and we will take a call accordingly," sources within the BCCI told ANI.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all sporting action across the world had been stopped including the 13th edition of the IPL.

The country is under 21-day lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday in a bid to stop the spread of the deadly virus that has a global impact.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported a total of 1071 confirmed COVID-19 cases in India. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11.