Former Australia batsman Michael Hussey believes that staging the ICC T20 World Cup later this year “will be a logistical nightmare”. He further revealed that the talks in Australia about the fate of the tournament suggest that it will be postponed to either 2021 or 2022.

“I am really fearful about the T20 World Cup to be honest and the reason for that is I think it is okay to bring out one team to play international cricket and get them to isolate and stay safe and prepare well for a series,” Hussey said during ‘HotSpot: The Cricket Podcast’ by Chetan Narula (sports journalist and broadcaster) and Deep Dasgupta (former Indian cricketer and broadcaster).

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“But having to bring a number of teams and getting them to isolate to prepare and then move around the country to different venues I think that will be a logistical nightmare.

“From what we are hearing perhaps the T20 World Cup will have to be postponed for 2021 or even 2022,” he added.

ICC T20 World Cup is scheduled to happen from October 18 to November 15. But the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has put the multination tournament in a flux.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) Board meeting last month kept the fate of the World Cup hanging as they dragged the matter until their next meeting in July.

The meeting, meanwhile, saw the Board expressing the desire to continue to assess the COVID-19 situation, as a part of the governing body’s contingency planning process to explore various ways to stage the events by working in tandem with the stakeholders and the regional governments.

Hussey was also seen talking about the scheduled Border-Gavaskar Trophy later this year. The 45-year-old said India would have to be at their absolute best to beat Australia this time around.

“I am salivating at the prospect of this series. India were sensational the last time they came to these shores, it was great to see them win and it gave them so much belief that they could win in Australian conditions,” Hussey said.

Australia were without the services of Steve Smith and David Warner in the last series as both were serving their bans handed over to them by Cricket Australia for their involvement in the Sandpaper Gate controversy. However, the duo would be, in all likelihood, in the squad, thus providing strength to the batting unit of Australia.

The four-match Test series are scheduled to be played at Brisbane Gabba, Adelaide Oval, Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Sydney Cricket Ground.

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.

With IANS inputs