The International Cricket Council (ICC) is likely to discuss the fate of the T20 World Cup in its next board meeting this month. The tournament, which is scheduled to be held in Australia from October 18 to November 15, has come under threat due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even though the date of the next meeting has not yet been finalised, ANI has reported that it could be held next week. The news agency quoted a source as saying that there are chances that the future of this year’s T20 World Cup will be discussed.
The last board meeting, which was held in July, had kept the fate of the multi-nation tournament hanging as they dragged the matter until at least next month.
“The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board today agreed to continue exploring a number of contingency plans regarding the future of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020 and the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2021 until next month whilst planning for delivery of the events in the scheduled window is ongoing,” the ICC had said in a press release after the Board meeting.
Meanwhile, there have speculations at every level that the T20 World Cup will be postponed in all likelihood. Cricket Australia (CA) chairman Earl Eddings had last month called staging the ICC T20 World Cup – dated to be held from October 18 to November 15 would be “unrealistic” and “very very difficult” amid the global pandemic.
“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 in a virtual press conference.
According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, the all-powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has also become “frustrated” at “ICC’s indecision”. It has left the Indian board without a plan for its next calendar year which is likely to include the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League during the same time as the T20 World Cup was supposed to take place.
Amid these growing speculations, Indian media on various occasions has claimed that BCCI was looking at the possibility to host the 2020’s edition of the IPL from September 25 to November 1, considering that the T20 World Cup would be postponed.