ICC postpones Men's T20 World Cup to 2021
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has officially postponed the Men's T20 World Cup by a year due to coronavirus pandemic. The multilateral tournament, which was scheduled to be held this year, will now take place in October-November 2021. Originally, the tournament was due to commence on October 18 in Australia. Here is more on the same.
An excerpt from ICC's official statement
"At today's meeting, windows for the next three ICC men's events were also agreed to bring clarity to the calendar and give the sport the best possible opportunity over the next three years to recover from the disruption caused by COVID-19," an ICC release read.
The proposed windows for next three ICC events
As per the proposed schedule, the ICC Men's T20 World Cup will be held in October-November 2021 (with the final on November 14). The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 could be scheduled in October-November (with the final on November 13). Also, the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 will run in October-November (with the final on November 26).
IBC Board will monitor the situation to decide the hosts
As per the original FTP, India are scheduled to host two events in 2021 and 2023 respectively. Meanwhile, the IBC Board will monitor the situation in order to make an informed decision on future hosts. It will also look forward to staging the ICC Women's World Cup 2021 in New Zealand next year. In the meantime, planning for this event continues as scheduled.
Cricket Australia expressed reservations on hosting the tournament
The fate of T20 World Cup had been shrouded in mystery ever since COVID-19 outbreak emanated. Recently, Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings asserted that staging the tournament under present circumstances seems "unrealistic". He added travel restrictions will make it difficult for other teams to get into the nation. However, ICC still continued to explore contingency plans before taking a final call on the tournament.
Safety of players is the topmost priority: Manu Sawhney
ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney said the decision was announced after undertaking comprehensive and complex contingency planning exercise. "Our number one priority has been to protect the health and safety of everyone involved in the sport," he said. "The decision was taken after careful consideration of all options available to us and gives us the best possible opportunity of delivering two T20 World Cups."
IPL likely to run from September 26 to November 7
In the recently concluded Apex Council meeting, the IPL board members marked the September-November window (September 26-November 7) for staging the tournament. With the postponement of T20 WC, the BCCI is expected to approach the government for conducting the IPL in India. Furthermore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will be the first-choice host if COVID-19 cases continue to flare up in India.
