After Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings stated that hosting the ICC T20 World Cup later this year would be “unrealistic”, a BCCI offical has claimed that the chairman’s comments have put the three-match T20I series between India and Australia in doubts.
Virat Kohli & boys are scheduled to play three T20Is against the Kangaroos in Down Under on October 11, 14 and 17 before the T20 World Cup is supposed to take place between October 18 and November 15.
“If the T20 World Cup is scrapped, as it increasingly looks as if it will, then travelling to Australia in October would not be practical and we can visit them post the IPL, if the IPL season indeed happens during that period,” the official said.
The fate of the T20 World Cup has been shaken due to the globar crisis caused by ther COVID-19 pandemic. Rumours have suggested that it might get postponed to 2022.
“While it hasn’t been formally called off this year, or postponed, trying to get sixteen countries into Australia in the current world, where most countries are still going through COVID spiking, I think it is unrealistic, or it’s going to be very, very difficult,” said Eddings on Tuesday in a virtual press conference.
“The ICC are having meetings as we speak, it’s a bit of a movable feast at the moment,” he added.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board meeting on Wednesday kept the fate of this year’s T20 World Cup hanging as they dragged the matter until at least next month when another meeting will take place.
The meeting, however, saw the ICC Board expressing its desire to stage all the upcoming events by assessing the COVID-19 situation in the host countries and cooperating with the stakeholders the regional governments.
Meanwhile, other than the T20I series, India and Australia are also set to face each other in a four-match Test series. Team India will also play their first-ever away pink-ball D/N Test on the tour.
Gabba would host the opening match from December 3. While the second match in Adelaide from December 11 will be India’s first away Day-Night Test, the ones in Melbourne and Sydney will be the traditional Boxing Day and New Year Tests respectively.