Everest Premier League postponed

KATHMANDU: The 2020 edition of Nepal's Everest Premier League, which was scheduled to begin in nine days time, has been indefinitely postponed owing to concerns over the ongoing coronavirus epidemic.

The franchise competition, which was to feature high-profile overseas signings such as Chris Gayle, Upul Tharanga, Corey Anderson and Kevin O'Brien, becomes the latest event to be affected as health authorities warn against staging mass gatherings.

The decision to postpone the event was taken following consultations with the Nepal Ministry of Home Affairs, the Cricket Association of Nepal, franchisees, players and other stakeholders - the organisers said in a statement released on Thursday. The intention remains to reschedule the event as soon as possible, though it is unclear how soon that may be.

“We are naturally all sad at the announcement... but simply we have to put the health and well-being of all Nepalis and our overseas players before everything else.” EPL founder and Managing Director Aamir Akhtar said in a statement.

“There is no doubt that this year's edition of the TVL Everest Premier League was going to be the biggest and best ever, this will still be the case. I would like to assure that as soon as we are able to go ahead with the 2020 season, we will be working to ensure that it will be the spectacular event the likes of which Nepal has never seen before” Akhtar added.

Despite Nepal being comparatively lightly affected by the virus thus far, with only a single confirmed case, Nepali authorities are taking proactive measures to contain the disease's spread. A number of events aimed at promoting tourism as part of the government's “Visit Nepal Year-2020” campaign were cancelled last week.

The postponement of the EPL has not been the only impact of the virus on the cricket calendar. Earlier this month, a five-match T20I series between Hong Kong and Malaysia was moved from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur owing to the outbreak, whilst the Thai Cricket Association cancelled a scheduled quadrilateral women's series between Thailand, Ireland, the Netherlands and Zimbabwe.