ICC T20 Cricket World Cup Likely To Be Shifted To UAE From India Due To Covid Concerns: BCCI Sources

The T20 Cricket World Cup that was scheduled to be played in October-November 2021 in India is most likely to be shifted to UAE. This decision might be taken as not all countries would be "comfortable" coming to India because of a predicted "third wave" of Covid-19.

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New Delhi: The ICC Cricket World Cup 2021, which is scheduled to take place in India during October-November 2021 is most likely to be shifted to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) acknowledges the fact that not all the participating nations would be "comfortable" to send the teams in India amid the "third wave" of the Covid-19 virus that is expected to come during the time of the event. This news comes right after the BCCI decided to suspend the IPL due to the ongoing crisis in the county. The final decision might come later n n the month, as learnt by PTI. 

This is the second time the tournament would be rescheduled as earlier the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup was supposed to be held in October-November 2020 in Australia. The news about the probable reschedule of the event was reported by PTI. 

"The suspension of IPL within four weeks is an indicator that it's not really safe to host a global event of that magnitude at a time when the country is fighting its worst health crisis in last 70 years,

"There is a chance of a third wave hitting the Indian shores in November. So while BCCI will remain the hosts, the tournament will probably shift to the UAE," a senior BCCI source to PTI. 

The source also said that the bio-bubbles in India in IPL were getting "porous" and no one could guarantee if such a thing won't happen again in October-November when the World Cup is scheduled.  

"In UAE, all of them were in one bubble from start to finish while here each team was traveling to three bubbles. Most of the positive cases emerged after bubble travel.

"Therefore even if you reduce the number of venues from 9 to 5 in October, still there will be air travel, unlike UAE. Also for players, they would not be mentally in a space to play in India unless the situation drastically improves," the source added.