Former Pakistan fast bowling great Wasim Akram believes that it wont be a wise decision to stage the 2020 ICC World T2O, slated to be held in Australia later this year, given the challenges thrown upon by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Akram is of the opinion that the International Cricket Council (ICC( should wait for a more appropriate time to host the flagship T20 event. The global tournament, which was last held in 2016, is scheduled to take place in Australia between October and November this year.

Akram expressed his apprehensions over having a World Cup without spectators and raised concerns about the obstacles posed by the travel restrictions imposed by governments all across the world.

“Personally, I don’t think it’s a good idea. I mean, how could you have a cricket World Cup without spectators,” Akram told ‘The News’ on Thursday, according to news agency PTI.

The ICC could decide the tournament’s fate on June 10 as there are still a lot of travel restrictions in place and getting all the teams in Australia, is going to be an onerous task.

“A World Cup is all about big crowds, spectators coming from all parts of the globe to support their teams. It’s all about atmosphere and you cannot get it behind closed doors,” he said.

“So I believe that they (ICC) should wait for a more suitable time and once this pandemic subsides and restrictions are eased then we can have a proper World Cup,” he said.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is currently looking at contingency plans to see if it can fit the World Cup in some other slot that is what Akram too thinks should happen.