The International Cricket Council (ICC) reportedly hosted a Chief Executives Committee meeting on Thursday but there is still no confirmation on the fate of the T20 World Cup scheduled to be played later in the year in Australia. However, an official in the richest cricket governing body in the world- the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) feels that having the event in October-November seems impractical

A BCCI official told IANS that a number of factors would come into play after normalcy resumes post the dreaded coronavirus subsides. The official then pointed out the travel restrictions and the new travel directives that might have to be followed around the world.

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“To be honest, the T20 World Cup in October seems to be impractical and even thinking of a gathering of people of that magnitude at this time is naive. I mean think about it. At this stage you don’t know when international travel would be safe. Someone is saying June, someone is saying longer. Once travel does open up, it would be prudent to study the impact of travel as to whether the coronavirus remains controlled or not,” the official pointed.

The official even brought in the human aspect as he spoke about whether the ICC and Cricket Australia (CA) are willing to take guarantee of the number of lives involved during the process of having a world tournament in place.

“The question would then be whether the CA and the ICC are willing to stick their necks out and take responsibility for such an event where the number of people converging would be significant. Then it comes down to the governments. Would the Australian government want to take such a risk? If so, what would be the timeline of their approval? Would the time be sufficient for the other boards? Would the governments of other countries permit their teams to travel?” the official questioned.

“Lastly, with the condition that everyone is going through at the moment, would the fans want to gather in a stadium at this stage? Or would the tickets of only one out of 10 seats be made available to keep a semblance of social distancing norms in place?” the official asked.

Earlier, Australian cricketers like Glen Maxwell and Aaron Finch had stated that a tournament like the T20 World Cup being played inside closed doors would be a difficult scenario.