Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara on Friday said that the ICC T20 World Cup should be postponed keeping in mind the health concerns of the players and others involved. He believed that the point of focus should be the virus and how it will act over time.

Speaking on Star Sports show Cricket Connected, the former Sri Lanka captain said: “The real thing is what’s going to happen with the virus. Is it going to disappear like SARS and MERS, or is this something that’s going to come back seasonally? Will we have to live with this particular virus or different strains of it from time to time or do we have to live with it long term?

“If that’s the case, then some of the changes that we have seen in our lives now, may be the new normal for us for a few years until a vaccine is found or until there’s enough immunity globally among the people to withstand this. So, those are really questions that I don’t think anyone can answer at the moment.

“We will get more clarity as time goes by. So, I can imagine sitting around a table for the ICC, trying to understand, consulting with experts to understand what’s going on. And more so, the questions that a lot of us have in our minds have still not been answered by the top most experts in the world.

“Everyday, there are new learnings, new things being found out, so we will have to wait and see, but the options may be to cancel it this year, postpone it to another year, but to have in place anticipatory procedures that take into account health and safety of both the players and the spectators, and make sure that’s iron clad.”

Like major sporting events across the globe, all forms of professional cricket have come to standstill and a dark cloud of uncertainty looms over the fate of the T20 World Cup, as well, which is due to be played between October 18 and November 15.

A final call on the fate of the tournament was supposed to be taken in the ICC Board meeting on Thursday but it, including all the other agenda, was deferred until June 10 following a discussion, led by Chairman Shashank Manohar, around the issue of confidentiality.