No decision yet on postponement of T20 World Cup – ICC

The International Cricket Council has squashed reports which have been doing the rounds in the last one week. It was reported that the T20 World Cup set to be played in Australia is to be postponed to 2021 and thus it may open the October-November window for the BCCI to host the Indian Premier League.

However, the game’s governing body has denied any such reports and they have revealed that the plans are still on to host the global event as it is planned from October 18 to November 15.

In fact, doubts have been raised over the travel restrictions and many believe that the tournament will be difficult to organise as 15 teams will need to travel to Australia for the T20I showpiece. Thus, it is not going to be easy from a logistical point of view. Moreover, the Australian government has barred travel restrictions till mid-September.

Furthermore, if the T20 World Cup takes place in October-November, it would have to be hosted without any crowd. ICC and Cricket Australia will have to incur a huge monetary loss as no tickets would be sold if the matches were played behind closed doors. It is reported that Cricket Australia may suffer a loss of $5 million to $10 million.

“The ICC has not taken a decision to postpone the T20 World Cup and preparations are ongoing for the event in Australia this year as per plan. The topic is on the agenda for the ICC Board meeting tomorrow (Thursday) and a decision will be made in due course,” an ICC spokesperson told Times of India on Wednesday.

Subsequently, things are expected to be clear after the ICC teleconference board meeting on Thursday. BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal had recently said that the Indian board will not push for the postponement of the T20 World Cup and it will be ICC and Cricket Australia’s call.

There is a lot of anticipation regarding the return of the game and the ICC will have to make sure that they are taking all the precautionary measures into consideration before deciding the fate of the T20 World Cup.

Players around the world are slowly getting back to their respective training. ECB is expected to host West Indies for three Test matches in July and it is going to give an indication to other boards.

On the other hand, ICC has threatened to shift the 2021 T20 World Cup from India after the BCCI failed to secure a tax exemption for the tournament from the Indian government.