New Delhi: Due to the unpredictable Covid-19 scenario in India the ICC T20 World Cup is all set to be shifted from India to UAE, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has internally referred to the ICC keeping the COVID-19 pandemic situation in mind.
According to a senior board official, Oman has been added as the fourth venue.
“Yes, the BCCI, during the ICC board meeting, has formally asked for a four-week window to take a final call but, internally, they have said that they would like to keep the hosting rights and wouldn’t mind the tournament being held in UAE and Oman,” a senior board official told PTI.
He added that Muscat has been specifically kept as the host for the preliminary round matches of the 16-team competition. This will give enough time to retouch the three grounds of the UAE, which have hosted 31 matches of the IPL. He said, “If the IPL gets over by October 10, then the matches of the T20 World Cup in the UAE can start off in November. Which will give three weeks time to prepare the pitches for the global competition. In the meanwhile, the first week can be held in Oman,” the official added.
The official further noted that several ICC board members believe that the BCCI is biding its time before taking a final call as it is very difficult to predict how the conditions will be in October-November as the T20 World Cup was scheduled to start in October-November.
“If you think about it practically, India is now reporting around 120,000 plus cases which is close to one third of what was being reported at the end of April and start of this month. But sitting on June 28, if you say “yes” to holding the World T20 in India, how can you predict the health situation in October if there is a third wave.”
Asked if the BCCI is hesitant to restart the eight-team IPL in India in September, then how can it host 16 teams in the country within a month. ” “Look, everyone including BCCI knows that monsoon is not a good enough reason and it is COVID-19, with almost 2500 crore revenue riding on the tournament. In a 16-team event, if there is one team that gets affected in bubble with multiple cases, it won’t be like IPL. For weaker national teams, you won’t get ready replacements outside 14 or 15 men. There are teething issues,” the official stated.
