BCCI Hoping For T20 World Cup Postponement Announcement Today: Report

United Arab Emirates (UAE) emerged as the top contender to host IPL 2020 in BCCI Apex Council meeting which was held via a virtual mode on July 17.

Photo: AFP

As the International Cricket Council (ICC) board meets virtually yet again on Monday, the BCCI will be hoping for postponement of this year's T20 World Cup so that the cash-rich  Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament could be conducted in the September-November window.

The T20 World Cup is scheduled to be held from October 18 to November 15 in Australia but Cricket Australia has already expressed that it may not be possible for them to host the tournament amid a surge of coronavirus cases the country.

With the Covid-19 attack seeming relentless with India breaching the grim 1 million mark, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) emerged as the top contender to host IPL 2020 in BCCI Apex Council meeting which was held via a virtual mode on Friday (July 17).

"The first step was postponement of Asia Cup, which has happened. We can only start to move ahead with our plans after the ICC announces the postponement. They have been sitting on the decision even after Cricket Australia said that they are not too keen on hosting the event," a BCCI Apex Council member told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

This year's T20 World Cup will likely be held in Australia in 2022 as India doesn't want to swap its 2021 hosting rights with Cricket Australia as of now.

The ICC, on its part, has maintained that it wants to explore all possible "contingency" options before taking a call of such immense magnitude. And it is not unusual for the governing body to wait this long.

"Pakistan was supposed to host the Champions Trophy in 2009. After the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus, everyone in their proper senses knew that PCB will never host a big event in the distant future," said a source familiar with the functioning of the ICC.

"Yet, ICC deputed its employees in Pakistan for months when South Africa was already preparing to host the event. Everyone knew but a formal announcement of shift took months as threat assessment was part of protocol.

"The ICC couldn't have just postponed the T20 World Cup immediately as initially, the top ministers of the Australian government expressed keenness to host," he added.

(With PTI Inputs)

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