Buttler hoping for shortened IPL in wake of COVID-19 pandemic

England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler is hoping for at least a curtailed IPL this season, aware that it would be difficult to conduct the "massive tournament" in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

The league was originally scheduled to start on March 29 in Mumbai but it was postponed to April 15 to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which has claimed more than 21,000 lives across the globe.

"No news at the moment. We saw, initially, that it was going to be postponed. It's very hard to see this changing in the immediate future, so I don't see that as a possibility at the moment," Buttler said in a skysports podcast.

"Obviously, it's such a massive tournament for world cricket, so hopefully some of it can go ahead - perhaps a shortened tournament."
"Any time we see some of the best Test cricket, it's always with great fast bowling; Jofra - a new kid on the block bowling extremely fast to the world's best batsman at Lord's in an Ashes Test."
"It was scary because [Smith] got hit on his neck or just beneath. People are very aware of what happened to Phillip Hughes, so there was huge worry for everyone."
Asked with whom he would least like to self-isolate with, Buttler quipped: "Ravi Ashwin, probably. It's actually a year ago since I got 'mankaded' because I keep getting tweeted about it, saying 'stay safe, don't go outside' with those pictures of me."