New Delhi, April 18, 2020: As the coronavirus began to spread across the world, major sports competitions were the first to be shut down in the name of public health and safety. These necessary steps have uprooted global sports, from international tournaments to online sports betting.
While many events have been cancelled outright, some have persevered and plan to go ahead either as scheduled or on a new date, making some of them available to bet on with the India sports betting site.
Cricket is hoping to restart soon
The biggest domestic cricket competition in the world, the Indian Premier League, is tentatively looking at a 15 April start, having been pushed back from 29 March due to the coronavirus outbreak. However, with India on lockdown until 14 April, the IPL looks set to be pushed back once again.
Major ICC cricket competitions are also being pulled off of the schedule, with several international series already cancelled. Although it doesn’t take place until October, the ICC cricket T20 World Cup may also be withdrawn, with the summer ICC cricket qualifiers having already been called-off.
Wimbledon cuts the potential Grand Slam schedule
The 2020 tennis Grand Slam schedule got underway with Novak Djokovic winning the Australian Open men’s singles at the end of January. Since then, Roland Garros and the US Open have been postponed, and Wimbledon has been cancelled altogether.
With Wimbledon being cancelled, Rafael Nadal could catch Roger Federer on 20 Grand Slam titles, should he capitalise on his Roland Garros favourite tag in Indian sports betting at 21/20. Djokovic himself is only three behind Federer, and looks set to win the US Open at 6/4 and is rated highly for Roland Garros at 11/5.
Wimbledon was Federer’s best shot at adding another Grand Slam, but now Roland Garros in September and the US Open in August could allow Nadal or Djokovic to close in on the Swiss star’s haul. The next Australian Open may also be pushed back if the rest of the tennis Grand Slam season is delayed further.
Football, athletics, and hockey can’t avoid closures
Amid the Champions League campaign, the coronavirus forced UEFA to postpone the competition: there’s a chance that the whole season will be lost, admits UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin. The Euro 2020 championships, also governed by UEFA, have been completely pushed back to 2021.
Originally set to take place in May, the quadrennial IIHF Hockey World Cup has been cancelled outright. This decision will have been fuelled by the NHL still being on lockdown.
At the end of March, Japan made the difficult decision to postpone the 2020 Olympic Games to 2021. This will greatly impact the preparation of Tokyo and its athletes. However, online sports betting operators still favour the USA at 1/10 to take the most gold medals, with China (6/1), Great Britain (13/1), and Japan (17/1) following up in the India sports betting odds.
While several major competitions like Wimbledon and the Olympics have been cancelled this year, there’s a chance that some others will take place, like the ICC cricket T20 World Cup.