Pak's Babar Azam Tells Why He Wants T20 World Cup To Go Ahead As Planned

The T20 World Cup will be the topmost agenda in the ICC's video conference meeting on May 28.

Photo: AFP

Pakistan's newly appointed skipper in ODIs and T20Is, Babar Azam said he wants ICC T20 World Cup to take place as planned, later this year in Australia. The fate of the much-awaited mega cricketing event - slated to take place in October - hangs in balance due to COVID-19 outbreak. "Not shining the ball, no celebrations during the match for social distancing these things will be difficult to imagine when we again play cricket. Everyone will follow the new rules if ICC set any," Azam said in an online press conference. "It (T20 World Cup) is my first World Cup as a skipper and as a player too. I would want the World Cup should take place. However, it would be difficult to play without a crowd. The players will need to get extra motivation to perform in front of an empty stadium," he added. According to news agency ANI, the T20 World Cup will be the topmost agenda in the ICC's video conference meeting on May 28. A major or most probably final decision can be taken on whether to go ahead with the event or cancel it due to coronavirus pandemic. "There is a meeting of cricket committee on May 28 and the top agenda of this meeting is to discuss the way forward for T20 World Cup, may proposals will be discussed, including the postponement of the tournament to 2022," sources within the ICC had told ANI. "The tournament may also go on as per the scheduled date and players can be asked to go for a quarantine period, it will also be discussed whether crowds can be a part of the tournament or not," the source added. The T20 World Cup is slated to be played from October 18- November 15 at seven venues across Australia.