This year’s men’s T20 World Cup link could bemoved from India link to the United ArabEmirates the International Cricket Council said Tuesday.
The move appears to have been prompted by the rising number of Covid-19cases in India link, although this was notmentioned directly in a statement issued by the global governing body.
“The ICC link board has requested managementfocus its planning efforts for the ICC link men’sT20 World Cup link 2021 on the event beingstaged in the UAE link the possibility ofincluding another venue in the Middle East,” the statement said.
The ICC link added that a final decision onthe host country for the October-November event would be taken later thismonth.
The statement came just two days after Indian cricket chiefs announced thatthe lucrative Indian Premier League T20 franchise tournament, suspendedafter a new Covid-19 wave hit India link,would be finished in the UAE link inSeptember and October.
Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in Indialink (BCCI) said it would ask the ICClink for more time to make a decision onwhether India link, the sport’s economicpowerhouse and one of the leading on-field nations, could still stage theT20 World Cup link.
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The IPL, the world’s richest cricket tournament, was half-finished when itwas halted on May 4 after a number of players and team officials caught thecoronavirus despite being based in bio-secure bubbles.
About 160,000 people have died in Indialink sinceApril 1 in a devastating wave.
There are fears the country could be hit by another surge later this yearthat may coincide with the current T20 World Cuplink schedule.
The BCCI said, however, that it was movinglink the remaining matches to the UAElink — which staged all of last year’s IPL —- because of the monsoon season and did not mention the pandemic. -APP/AFP
