Road Safety World Series rescheduled for coronavirus

Mumbai, March 12: In the interest of public safety and security the organizing body of the Unacademy Road Safety World Series — the Professional Management Group (PMG), Viacom18 Media Pvt Ltd, BookMyShow, DNA Entertainment and Majestic Legends Sports Pvt Ltd. —and following the advisory issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, have unanimously agreed to reschedule the remaining matches of the Series to a later date. The remaining seven matches in the series will now be played when the situation is conducive to hold public events with large gathering and there are no travel restrictions. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the escalating number of cases worldwide, the Government of India issued an advisory “to ensure that no public gatherings take place in any sporting event”. The first four matches in the Road Safety World Series saw a tremendous turnout at all venues and huge following and engagement on air and the digital channels. The popularity of this five-nation T20 series, which is held to create awareness towards road safety in the country, grew with every passing day and tickets for the upcoming matches were sold-out much in advance. To prevent any further scope of a large gathering, the organisers felt that it is apt not to go ahead with the planned matches now. Talking about the series, Ravi Gaikwad, RTO Chief of Thane (Konkan Range) said: “The decision to reschedule the event has been taken as the most responsible course of action, to safeguard the health and safety of the cricket-loving fans, players and staffs. The Government of India (GoI) has issued an advisory to ensure that no public gathering takes place in any sporting events and so it is important that we obey the government guidelines and hence this slight break in the tournament, but it will be back soon for the cause of road safety.” Indian Legends skipper Sachin Tendulkar said that it was the right step under the circumstance to reschedule the tournament. “The rescheduling of this series, held to create awareness about Road Safety, is unfortunate yet the right step. We all hope and pray that the spread of Novel Corona Virus is contained. It is nice to support the cause and spread the message of Road Safety and playing again with some old friends on the cricket field. I look forward to continuing to support this critical cause through the medium of sports.”